Twelve Students Fall Sick In Western Kazakh Village

Twelve high-school students suddenly fell ill at a school in the western Kazakh village of Berezovka on January 21 in the latest cases of unexplained illness there. Some 100 people, mostly children, have suffered cases of nausea, dizziness, and fainting since November. Villagers fear that the symptoms are the result of contamination from a nearby oil and gas field. Residents asked for government help to relocate, but their request was rejected on January 20. (RFE/RL's Kazakh Service)