TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The New Taipei City Government on Sunday (June 11) announced that eight children who attended a preschool currently under investigation tested positive for phenobarbital.
At a Sunday press conference on the latest developments with a Banqiao District preschool suspected of administering sedatives to students, New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Liu He-jan (劉和然) said that phenobarbital had been detected in the bloodstreams of eight students, with one student having a relatively higher level, reported TTV. As for the teachers suspected of providing the drugs to the children, Liu said that they have all been suspended and are cooperating with the investigation.
According to Liu, six of the students had concentration levels of the barbiturate phenobarbital of 1 to 1.5 micrograms per milliliter (mcg/ml) in their bodies. He said that this quantity is considered a "trace amount."
One child was found to have a concentration of 1.5 to 2.0 mcg/ml. Another had 3.0 to 3.5 mcg/ml.
Liu said the minimum detection level is 1.0 mcg/ml. Parents first noticed a noticeable change in their children's emotions and behavior, including acts of self-harm, from February to April, and it's not clear when these drugs were administered.
When asked about the results of urine tests, Liu said that the central government is already in the "compilation stage" and after the results come out, the central and local governments will cooperate in assessing the results.
As for the current status of the students, New Taipei City Education Department Commissioner Chang Ming-wen (張明文) said that out of the 67 students originally enrolled in the preschool, 25 have already been transferred to other schools. Of the remaining 42, one is currently overseas, the parents of six are considering their options, and the parents of the rest have made a decision on new schools for their children.
