Nearly sixty students and teachers from a technical school, including people from mudslide-flattened areas of Zhouqu, fell sick with dysentery in northwest China's Gansu Province, local authorities said Monday.

Also, two of the sixty were diagnosed with appendicitis, said an official of the provincial government.

All 60 have been hospitalized at three hospitals in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, according to the official.

The patients included students and teachers from the mudslide-flattened areas in Zhouqu County, though the exact number could not be confirmed as of Monday, the official said.

More than 500 students and teachers were transferred from mudslide-stricken areas of Zhouqu to Lanzhou for further studies Saturday.

Yin Teng, a student at the school, told Xinhua that they arrived at the school from Zhouqu on Saturday afternoon.

"Some students began feeling uncomfortable Saturday night and the number increased Sunday and Monday. Most of my classmates have been taken to hospital. Only 12 are healthy," Yin said.

"The body temperature of most patients are stable now. Only a few still have fevers and diarrhea," said Hao Yuan, vice governor of the province, who has twice visited the patients.

An investigation into the cause of the illness is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2010)