Forty-two students from a college in Hyderabad were hospitalised on Friday after falling ill due to a suspected gas leak, The Hindu reported.

The students are from the Kasturba Gandhi Junior College for Women. They were rushed to a nursing home after they complained of difficulty in breathing and some of them began vomiting.

College authorities denied that there was any gas leak from the premises, and claimed that foul smell from a nearby garbage dump led to the students falling sick, IANS reported.

Marredpally police inspector Nethaji said that 35 students have been discharged, while seven are still being treated. “There were no critical cases; most of them are fine now,” he said.

The inspector said that authorities were trying to find out the cause of the suspected gas leak. Later on Friday, the police said that the reason for the foul smell was the lifting of garbage nearby. Authorities said that some of the students were eating lunch around the same time.

“So far no complaints received, and all the students are safe,” the police said.