SALFIT, Monday, June 24, 2019 (WAFA) – The Ministry of Health said today that dozens of residents of the village of Marda, north of the occupied West Bank city of Salfit, have showed symptoms of poison and water is suspected as the cause.

The ministry said in a press statement that it received a call at 1:00 o’clock this morning that said that the village doctor received cases of vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Salfit‘s health director ordered the opening of the village clinic in order to treat the patients while the more severe cases were moved to hospital.

Minister of Health Mai Kaileh said that samples from the village‘s water sources were collected and were being checked to determine the cause of the poisoning. Initial results are expected within 24 hours.

Kaileh said the villagers were inst4ructed to boil the water before drinking it until the results of the tests come out.

The head of Marda village council, Bassam Ibdah, told WAFA that more than 30 people were treated for acute abdominal pain.

K.T./M.K.