More than 100 children from eastern Ukraine were removed from the train they were on in the Saratov region of central Russia on Wednesday evening following the mass outbreak of an unknown respiratory infection.
Some 86 members of the 120-strong group were reportedly hospitalised, and one girl has died, Saratov Governor Roman Busargin said.
The children, who were all from the Russian occupied “Luhansk Peoples’ Republic”, had been returning from a holiday camp in the Tyumen region when their symptoms began, news website 72.ru reported.
According to the Russian-installed Luhansk authorities, one of the children came down with a fever on Wednesday morning, which later went away. However, by Wednesday evening she became ill again. Two medical professionals chaperoning the group attempted to give her first aid without success.
The Investigative Committee in the Penza region, where the death was recorded, has opened a criminal case for death by negligence.