A number of children fell ill and had to be taken out of a classroom at Sacred Heart School, St Julian’s, this morning when a nauseating  smell permeated the room.

Senior school headmistress Carmen Vella told Times of Malta that some students had also felt unwell last Friday after complaining of a bad smell in their classroom. They were immediately seen to by the school nurse and were sent home.

Sources told this newspaper that asthmatic children in the Form II classroom were the worst affected.

The incident this morning happened soon after school started. The students who were unwell were helped by the school nurse and the school first aiders. An ambulance and a doctor from the Health Clinic were called.

After visiting the classroom in question, the health inspector told Ms Vella that the smell could have come from paint which workmen were using on one of the outside walls of the school or, alternatively, from a culvert which was being cleaned in a nearby area.

All students recovered while still at school.