They’re not in good spirits.
Nearly 30 schoolgirls have been hospitalized with anxiety attacks after allegedly playing with Ouija boards at their school in Colombia.
“There were 28 possible cases of anxiety in school students,” said Hugo Torres, head of the Galeras Educational Institution in Galeras, where the incident took place, per Jam Press.
According to the outlet, alarm bells went off after the girls reportedly suffered signs of fainting, anxiety and other symptoms at school. They were subsequently admitted to a municipal hospital accompanied by parents and school faculty.
Info on the students’ diagnoses has yet to be released, however many parents blame the in-school use of Ouija boards, a Jumanji-esque pursuit that uses a sliding pointer to spell out messages in a mysterious way. Created in the US in 1886, Ouija boards have become a fixture in occult lore due to their alleged ability to communicate with the dead.
“I work here in a hospital kiosk and every day I see three or four children arrive after fainting,” exclaimed one mother. “Parents, you have to move, investigate what’s happening at school, because our children cannot continue in this situation.”
She added, “Our children always have a good breakfast and it cannot be said that what’s happening is due to lack of food.”
However, Torres has since accused community members of stoking hysteria by spreading unfounded rumors. “Given the reported cases, a series of comments were unleashed on the community that, rather than helping to resolve the situation, led to confusion and an adverse environment for our work,” he said.
“The school is waiting for the medical diagnoses to provide further reliable information,” explained Torres, who implored the community to avoid making “early judgments and diagnoses of their own” in the interim.
It is unclear when the school plans to update the public on the students’ condition while authorities have not confirmed whether a police investigation is underway.