A school in northern Malaysia was forced to temporarily close after an outbreak of “mass hysteria”. Picture: ASTRO AWANI

According to the BBC, the spooky incidents started last week in the city of Kota Bharu, with a number of people claiming they’d seen spirits or had supernatural experiences, with many saying they had seen a mysterious “figure”.

“Our students were possessed and disturbed,” a staff member told the BBC.

“We are not sure why it happened. We don’t know what it is that affected us.

“But the place is a bit old, and these children can be disobedient and sometimes throw their rubbish around the school grounds.”

“Perhaps they hit some ‘djinns’ (ghosts) and offended the spirits.”

School principal Siti Hawa Mat said that 75 pupils suffered some kind of attack.

Kamariah Ibrahim, a teacher, told local media outlet Astro Awani: “I saw a black figure, like it was trying to enter my body, but my colleagues were surrounding me, reciting verses from the Al-Quran.

“I felt like my head was bloating, I felt numb and tears kept pouring down my face.”

The school has reopened and officials are still trying to figure out what happened.