GATINEAU, Que. - Twenty-one elementary school students in Gatineau were taken to hospital today after complaining of head, chest and stomach aches following a school bus ride.
Maude Hebert with the Portages-de-l'Outaouais school board says no one showed signs of serious injury and the children were brought to hospital as a preventive measure.
She says when the students arrived at school, they complained they felt ill and reported an unusual smell from the bus.
Hebert says carbon monoxide has been ruled out as a cause, and authorities are investigating whether a problem with the exhaust gas cooler on the bus emitted the foul odour.
Marie-Eve D'Aoust, spokeswoman for the paramedics co-operative that treated the children, says 17 patients were brought to the Gatineau hospital and four were transported to the Hull hospital.
She says 22 other students evaluated by paramedics and poison control workers did not need to be taken to hospital.
