Law enforcement officers in the Lviv region have opened a criminal case over a mass poisoning incident involving children at one of the kindergartens in the city of Sokal, located in the Sheptytskyi district. As of the evening of March 29, ten pupils had been hospitalized. According to police, the young patients are under medical supervision and their lives are not in danger.
The Lviv region police said officers discovered a social media post on March 29 while monitoring online platforms. The publication reported that several children from one of Sokal’s kindergartens, aged 4 to 5, had been admitted to a medical facility with symptoms of an acute intestinal infection between March 27 and March 29.
After checking the information, officers from Police Department No. 2 of the Sheptytskyi District Police Department confirmed that, as of 6:00 p.m. on March 29, ten children were staying in the hospital. Doctors are providing the necessary treatment, and their condition is not life-threatening.
What is known so far
- the incident occurred at one of Sokal’s kindergartens;
- the hospitalized children showed symptoms of an acute intestinal infection;
- the patients are 4 to 5 years old;
- the children were admitted to hospital between March 27 and March 29;
- as of 6:00 p.m. on March 29, 10 children remained hospitalized;
- there is no threat to their lives.
Investigators from the territorial police unit, under the procedural supervision of the Sheptytskyi District Prosecutor’s Office, launched criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 325 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This article concerns violations of sanitary rules and regulations aimed at preventing infectious diseases and mass poisoning.
Penalties предусмотрені by the article
The article provides for the following penalties:
- a fine ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens;
- arrest for up to six months;
- restriction of liberty for up to three years;
- imprisonment for up to three years.
A pre-trial investigation is currently underway. Law enforcement officers are establishing all circumstances of the incident, and expert examinations have already been ordered.