Barnala: At least 40 students of a government school in Roore Ke village in Barnala district were taken ill after eating fruit of jatropha (ratanjot) grown on the school premises. Sources said all the students were admitted to Barnala Civil Hospital, where they were said to be out of danger. Sources said when some students of Class X of the Roore Ke school were engaged in a cleanliness drive in the school to weed out the congress grass, one of them went near the 'ratanjot' tree and tasted the fruit. As he found it tasty, he also asked fellow students to try it. About 35-40 students, including some from the junior classes, ate the fruit. When they started vomiting, headmaster Brij Bhushan called a few villagers and rushed students to the hospital. Civil Surgeon Balbir Singh also reached the hospital. The ill students include Krishan, Bashir, Iqbal, Gurpreet, Pargat Singh, all of Class X, Harpreet Kaur of Class VI, Sonia and Manpreet of Class III. Sources say the 'ratanjot' fruit is used to extract oil used in herbal medicines. A few days back too, about 20 students had gotten ill after eating the same fruit at government school, Jumla Malkin, also in Barnala.