The number of children who have died of acute kidney failure in Indonesia has risen to 133, the country’s health minister said on Friday, blaming the rise on harmful substances in medical syrups, AFP reported.

Indonesian authorities launched an investigation and banned the sale and prescription of medical syrups on Wednesday after a surge in cases of acute kidney failure.

“We have identified 241 cases of acute kidney failure in 22 provinces with 133 deaths,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a news conference.

Health authorities found traces of harmful chemicals in children who were treated for acute kidney failure.

“Seven of the 11 children had the following harmful substances: ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol butyl ether,” he added.

“All the cases have been confirmed to be caused by (these) substances,” he said.

In early October, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it had found “unacceptable levels” of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in four Indian cough syrups implicated in the deaths of nearly 70 Gambian children from acute kidney failure.

According to Budi, Indonesian authorities found traces of similar substances in 102 syrups in the homes of sick children.

The ban on the prescription and sale of syrups will be extended to these 102 products.

Most of the patients are children under the age of five, the ministry said.

According to the minister, the condition of some small patients has improved after the introduction of an antidote imported from Singapore.