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30 students hospitalised after suspected gas leak
Parents blamed the school management for not informing them while children also spoke to the media saying that the teachers dismissed their complaints.
More than 30 students of a private school in Chennai were hospitalised on Friday following a suspected gas leak, with several of them fainting and feeling breathless. All the students are safe, authorities said, adding that the source of the gas leak is yet to be confirmed.
However, parents blamed the school management for not informing them while children also spoke to the media saying that the teachers dismissed their complaints.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were at the school premises by late evening. “We cannot say the exact cause now,” said NDRF commander AK Chauhan after inspecting the school. “Our team assessed the situation. There is no smell (of gas) now. There has been no leakage from any air conditioner. Safety precautions are in place. Maybe there was some toxic gas at the site but we cannot zero in on any reason now. Students are stable now.”
According to several parents, some children complained of dizziness and irritation in their eyes on Friday morning but the school management admitted them in a government hospital only after 3pm.
“Two days back my daughter complained of difficulty in breathing and vomiting,” a parent told news agency ANI. “She complained about the same yesterday too. Today she vomited and felt dizzy. But the school did not tell us anything but admitted my daughter to a government hospital. We then took her to a private hospital. She has been kept under observation.” A father of a girl of class 10 said that she complained at 10.30am but the school dismissed her complaints and later brought her in an ambulance to the government hospital without informing him.
“The teachers brought several of us who were complaining to the school’s ground and made us sit together. We saw several students fainting and vomiting. It scared all of us,” said a student from class 8 who did not wish to be named. “I felt an irritation in my throat at first and then I began coughing and wheezing,” she said.
After 2pm, several ambulances arrived at the school to take the children to the hospital.
“There were seven of us in the ambulance. I was also among them,” said Yashika, a student of class 10 after she was discharged.
“The teachers at first told us that we are not serious. Finally the ambulances were called in. I was provided oxygen support in the ambulance. In the hospital I was administered intravenous injection and they checked my pulse and discharged me,” she said. Most of the students were discharged.
The school premises are congested and there isn’t much air circulation, the students and parents said. The school, located in Chennai has several industries in its vicinity, but the NDRF ruled out a gas leak. The school management did not release a statement till filing of this report.
