The Health Ministry is leaving it to the relevant agencies to investigate the source of the poisonous gas which caused students around Pasir Gudang to suffer breathing difficulties since Thursday.

Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said his ministry was only monitoring and controlling the situation relating to health.

“I do not know where the poisonous gas came from, as health minister, I am only monitoring from the health aspect.

“Whatever it is, wait for them to make a statement after they have conducted a study on the matter but I can confirm the symptoms of the students were linked to poisonous gas and not from food poisoning,” he told reporters after attending an Aidilfitri celebration and official opening of the Maahad Habibullah Al-Hafiz at the Puncak Alam Mosque in Kuala Selangor today.

Dzulkefly said symptoms such as breathing difficulty, nausea, vomiting, headaches and muscle cramps faced by the students were similar to the chemical waste pollution incident at Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang in March.

"I also cannot confirm the source of the poisonous gas, whether it came from the location in Sungai Kim Kim,” he said.

Earlier, the ministry in a statement confirmed there were 31 victims in the latest suspected gas poisoning incident and they were all students from Sekolah Agama Taman Mawar and Sekolah Kebangsaan Pasir Gudang 4 and were being treated at Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) in Johor Bahru. - Bernama