Gas leak: Over 40 students from school in north Chennai’s Tiruvottiyur hospitalised

All students are now stable, and two of them are under observation. No casualties were reported, says Chennai City Health Officer Jagadeesan. According to the police, the leak occurred at the chemistry laboratory of the school. The cause of the leak is yet to be determined

Over 40 students were admitted to hospitals on Friday following a gas leak at the laboratory in a school in Tiruvottiyur. Officials are yet to identify the cause of the leak.

According to the police, the leak occurred in the chemistry laboratory of Victory Matriculation Higher Secondary School. As students in a few classrooms were exposed to the gas, parents and relatives gathered on the premises.

As a number of students reported difficulty in breathing at 2.45 p.m., they were shifted to a nearby hospital. “Most of the students who were admitted were girls. Only one boy was admitted. All the students are stable. By 9 p.m., most of the students had been discharged. Only five girl students are under observation,” said Manosh Kumar, a doctor at the Government Hospital, Tiruvottiyur.

“The students are unable to point to a particular gas. They said they experienced an odour and breathlessness. But saturation level was normal. Of the students who were taken to the hospital, only one boy was reportedly exposed to the gas,” he said.

Chennai City Health Officer Jagadeesan said all the affected students were stable, and no casualties had been reported. “The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) officials have visited the school to check what went wrong. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are also monitoring the situation,” he said.

Officials are yet to determine the cause of the gas leak. The police, Revenue Department and the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services are investigating. 

Arumai Raj, a relative of one of the students, said the children had reported similar odour for the past two days but the school management did not take it seriously, and the situation worsened on Friday. Nazar Khan, another relative of a student, said many students had also visited other private hospitals after the incident.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials visited the locality to assist and evacuate residents in case of an emergency, Dr. Jagadeesan said.

Two students were admitted to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital. They came in with very mild respiratory distress due to inhalation of the unidentified gas, doctors said. They underwent tests, including X-ray, and were seen by the chief of respiratory medicine. Both are stable now, they added.

Published - October 25, 2024 10:45 pm IST