"The incident occurred at the Vinh Truong Primary School," the department said. "The student who died had heart problems while others have been hospitalised with similar symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, and fatigue. They all had breakfast earlier, including chicken rice, chicken burgers, and sushi sold at stalls near their school.
Director of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Health Department, Bui Xuan Minh said that they were investigating the case.
"The girl suddenly felt tired during a class and the teacher called an ambulance. However, she was dead before reaching the hospital," Minh said. "28 others have also developed food poisoning symptoms and they all ate the same food for breakfast earlier in the morning."
The Khanh Hoa Provincial General Hospital received 10 students from the school.
Just a few days earlier, 10 students at Nguyen Van Troi High School in Nha Trang were also hospitalised due to food poisoning after having rice and chicken sold by a vendor near their school on March 29.
In mid-March, nearly 370 people were also hospitalised for food poisoning after eating chicken and rice at the Tram Anh Restaurant on Ba Trieu Street, Nha Trang City.
Initial investigations by Nha Trang's Pasteur Institute into samples from the food served to the victims revealed the presence of bacteria such as Salmonella spp, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus in the chicken and rice with egg sauce. The fried onion samples tested positive for Salmonella bacteria, while Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli were detected in the pickled vegetables.
In 2022, another mass food poisoning caused by bacteria in a chicken and rice dish also hospitalised 600 students and teachers including one death at a school Nha Trang.