Diarrhea downs 160 Zamboanga City folk

ZAMBOANGA CITY — At least 160 residents of the southern city, many of them children, have been rushed to various hospitals after an outbreak of diarrhea, officials said yesterday.

City health and sanitation workers were ordered to check on the port city’s main reservoir following rumors that Muslim separatists may have poisoned the water leading to the outbreak.

"We are checking on this. We are analyzing water samples," said Alejo Roxas, an official of the Zamboanga City Water District.

The first case of diarrhea was reported Sunday afternoon. Other reports came in later from dozens of villages and residential areas.

Reports said about 700 people were taken to the different hospitals, although as of yesterday, only 100 remained while the others were discharged.

But city health officer Rogelio Silapan said these figures were "bloated." About 80 percent of the victims were children, he added.

Roxas said that two days before the outbreak, rumors had spread that members of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf were planning to contaminate the city’s water system.

"We can’t take this lightly and we are taking precautionary measures. Soldiers have been deployed to guard the reservoir," Roxas said. — Roel Pareño, AFP