Shelkovskoy District
Shelkovskoy District is an administrative and municipal district, one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. It is located in the northeast of the republic. The area of the district is. Its administrative center is the rural locality of Shelkovskaya. Population: 50,233 ; The population of Shelkovskaya accounts for 20.8% of the district's total population.
Shelkovsk incident">2005 Shelkovsk incident">Shelkovsk incident
December 2005, multiple children in schools in the district especially the village of experienced a mass outbreak of respiratory problems, seizures and "other symptoms suggestive of nervous system hypersensitivity."In total 100 people, mostly schoolchildren were hospitalised and three were killed of poisoning. An official enquiry into the incident by a Government Commission reported that there were no signs of chemical poisoning and was simply an outbreak of mass hysteria related to the emergency situation in the Chechen Republic.
However, much doubt has been cast over the truth of this enquiry. In a memo from a military specialist leaked to Anna Politkovskaya and other journalists, a poisonous substance was present in the school. Many possible suspects have been considered including Ethylene glycol or a nerve agent, accused by Chechen separatist leaders as the work of the Russians.