Agency Excludes Tainted Springwater In Mass Chechen Poisoning

Tainted springwater has been excluded as a cause of a recent mass poisoning in the Chechen Republic's eastern district of Nozhai-Yurt.

In a statement on June 5, a branch of Russia's consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, said 146 residents of the village of Ishkhoi-Yurt have been hospitalized so far with symptoms of poisoning.

The agency ruled out contaminated springwater but did not say what had caused the illnesses.

Meanwhile, a Chechen commission led by Prime Minister Abubakar Edelgeriev continues to investigate the incident.

Local authorities said earlier this week that more than 100 residents of Ishkhoi-Yurt, including 26 children, had been taken ill and hospitalized. Nonboiled springwater was suspected.

Residents in the Chechen capital, Grozny, have been warned not to drink tap water.