Ranchi/Calcutta: Two students of a private boarding school in Jamtara district died after being bitten by a common krait in their hostel room in the small hours of Tuesday while two others are fighting for life in a Bengal hospital.

The incident at Modern Public School in Kundahit, 60km from the district headquarters and 350km from Ranchi, has triggered concerns over the upkeep of residential cradles in remote areas and prompted anxious parents to take children back home from the hostel.

According to principal Bhajahari Mondal, around Monday midnight, hours after the 100-odd boarders went to bed, UKG student Arpit Gorai (9), first grader Kiran Hansda (10), nursery student Subhajit Murmu (7) and Class X boy Suraj Hembrom (16) woke up vomiting.

"A student first informed me that Arpit had been bitten by something on his left arm. I rushed to find the venomous chiti snake under the sheet in one of the beds. I killed it with a stick before taking the boy to the local health centre," Mondal said.

Arpit was referred to Suri district hospital in Bengal, 43km from Kundahit. "We were about to reach Suri when I received a call from the hostel, saying three others had been bitten. They were vomiting and had become drowsy. All were first taken to the health centre and then brought to Suri," the principal added.

Arpit and Kiran were declared dead on arrival. The others are in ICU.

Jamtara SP Jaya Roy said that no one had lodged a complaint. "We have started a probe to check whether the hostel was being run legally."

Shovan Dey, superintendent of the hospital, said all four students were brought to Suri at least three hours after snakebite. "The two students who are in ICU are still unconscious. We have administered anti-venom serum to them."

Bereaved parents accused the school of being irresponsible. "The authorities did not inform us about the snakebite. They informed us only after my son died. The teachers should have been more careful about the hostel," cried Rabilal Hansda, Kiran's father.

Rabindra Nath Mahto, the JMM MLA from Nala who came to Suri and met parents, said the snake may have come from an abandoned building near the hostel. "The school authorities should be extra vigilant in monsoon."

The common krait ( Bungarus caeruleus), also known as Indian krait or blue krait, is found in the jungles of the Indian subcontinent. It is a member of the big four species (the others being Indian cobra, Russell's viper and saw-scaled viper), inflicting the most snakebites in the country.