At least 200 children and an undetermined number of adults were poisoned on Thursday in the Boyaca Province in central Colombia, government officials said.

The cause of the poisoning were unknown for now.

Boyaca Governor Jose Rozo said 120 children are still in hospital in Ramiriqui, the other 80 are being assisted at local health places and an undetermined number of adults await to be assisted in Rondon.

"We have more than 200 intoxicated people in the municipality of Rondon, where we sent many ambulances and Red Cross staff to assist the emergency and to try to clarify the reason of this regrettable situation," Rozo said.

Rozo also said the gravest patients will be taken to assistance centers, which will be alert to any kind of sanitary emergencies, while the less grave ones will be assisted by paramedics and nurses.

This is the second case of massive intoxication during this week in Colombia. On Wednesday in Buenavenutra Port, 20 families were evacuated for had inhaled a chemical which spilled out on rivers.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2008)