A high school assembly intended to assuage fears after a mass fainting incident last week in Pursat province backfired yesterday as three students passed out during the gathering.

The student body at Hun Sen Krakor high school in Pursat’s Krakor district was back in class after a five-day break that followed the fainting of some 200 students on Thursday. Chey Montha, director of the high school, said that an expert was brought in to explain to the students why they had fainted, when the three girls collapsed during the assembly.

“We wanted to explain things to them so they would feel better about returning to their studies, but we could see that some students’ health was not well, so we broke the meeting and took them to get medical treatment,” he said.

On Thursday, about 200 students fainted after breathing in fumes from burning rubbish that contained an old paint can. They were immediately sent to receive medical treatment at provincial hospital.

Provincial authorities said they have been unable to definitively confirm the reason for the fainting.

Khlem Sokoun, chief of the Provincial Health Department, said that yesterday morning, he sent his officers to check up on the health of the students, only to find that the students had been sent home.

“I now have [them] checking at students’ homes and following up student’s health to find out the real reason [for the fainting], but we have not found any reason yet,” he said.