Snake bites student at Telangana school, second in two days

Hyderabad: A day after a snake bit a female student at a government welfare residential school in Telangana’s Jagtial district on December 18, another student at the same school suffered a snake bite on Thursday, December 19.

After the snake bite, Yashvanth, a Class 8 student, fell ill and was admitted to a private hospital in Korutla with bite marks on his leg. On Wednesday, another Class 8 student of the Telangana school, Akhil, was hospitalised after experiencing vomiting and hand pain, where doctors discovered snake bite marks on his wrist.

The Telangana residential school authorities suspected both students might have been bitten by a snake on Tuesday night. While Akhil fell ill shortly after, Yashwanth developed symptoms later, they said.

According to doctors, symptoms would not appear immediately in the majority of cases if the snake was a Russell’s Viper. However, its venom could turn fatal after damaging organs one after the other over a period of time.

On learning about the incident, Collector Satya Prasad visited the students of the school undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Telangana’s Korutla. He enquired about the health condition of students by interacting with doctors. Later, he visited the school.

Two students of the same school in Telangana had died in July-August, one reportedly due to a snakebite. While Class 8 student Rajarapu Ganaditya, 13, died on July 26 this year, Yedamalla Anirudh, 12, of Class 6 died on August 9.

The school had closed down after many students fell ill as well. A cleaning operation had found a den of snakes and at least four were killed in August.

Telangana deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Opposition leaders including BRS working president KT Rama Rao visited the school following the incident.

Reacting to the incident, Telangana health minister Damodar Raja Narasimha expressed shock and directed the superintendent of Korutla Government Hospital to provide better treatment to the students.