Ara: At least two dozen students of Bhagini Nivedita Girls High School in Babu Bazaar under Ara Town police station fell unconscious on Friday afternoon after battery shop owners dumped waste from batteries in an open drain near the school.

Twenty-five students were rushed to the Ara sadar hospital in unconscious state.

The headmistress of the school, Kundan Kumari, said several battery shops are lined up outside the school on Babu Bazaar Road and they frequently discharge battery sulfuric acid into the drain.

She said the students inhaled the stink and fell ill. She said the school administration had objected to the regular discharge of battery water.

Kundan said that on Friday the shop owners discharged battery water and acid again in the drain that released poisonous gas and at least 25 students fell unconscious. "We rushed them to the Ara sadar hospital," she said.

The deputy superintendent of Ara Sadar hospital, Satish Kumar Sinha, said 25 students were brought to the hospital and were administered oxygen and saline after various tests. He confirmed: "The girls inhaled poisonous gas."

He added that the students were out of danger and will be released by night.

The deputy superintendent said acid in batteries is a harmful chemical and it reacts after coming in contact with water and air and releases poisonous gas.

Station house officer of the Ara town police station, J.P. Singh, too confirmed that the shop owners released the battery water and its acid into the drain. He said the incident occurred because of irresponsibility on the part of the battery shop owners and action against them would be taken after investigation.

The SHO said the police are probing from which area the battery water was discharged into the drain. All shop owners have fled after downing their shops' shutters soon after the incident came to light.

Sulphuric acid in batteries can kill and dissolve a corpse. Sulphuric acid is a highly corrosive chemical. It can cause severe skin burns.