Twenty-four children aged three to 12 died in a small Andean village in south-eastern Peru after drinking apparently contaminated milk, senior officials said on Saturday.
The Peruvian Health Minister, Mr Alejandro Aguinaga, and a presidential envoy, Mr Eduardo Mosqueira, as well as a number of MPs, flew to the small village of Tauccamarca in Cusco province on Saturday to investigate the incident.
They said 26 others survived after drinking the contaminated milk.
The contamination may have been from insecticide.