Officials wearing gas masks check the site of a gas leakage accident happened at Tughlakabad in New Delhi, India, on May 6, 2017. Nearly 200 students of a state-run school were hospitalized after they fell ill following a gas leak from a nearby container depot in the Indian capital Saturday, a senior police official said. (Xinhua/Stringer)
NEW DELHI, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 200 students of a state-run school were hospitalized after they fell ill following a gas leak from a nearby container depot in the Indian capital Saturday, a senior police official said.
The gas leak took place in Tughlakabad container depot near Rani Jhansi Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya (school) in southeast Delhi in the morning, when classes were underway.
"Around 200 children have been admitted to four different hospitals for treatment after they complained of irritation in eye and throat. However, no one is serious. All students and teachers of the school have been evacuated," Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police, Romil Baniya, told the media.
"Fortunately, there have been no reports of any death in the incident. Some of the students who were hospitalized have been discharged after administration of first aid, while the remaining others are undergoing treatment," the official said.
Fire tenders and the National Disaster Response Force have rushed to the spot and are trying to contain the leakage.
"The gas that leaked is actually Chloromethyl Pyridine, a chemical which is used in manufacturing insecticides and pesticides. We are trying to ascertain the exact cause of the leak," said a senior official of the Delhi Fire Services.
One of the school teachers said, on condition of anonymity, that the school was open Saturday because of a scheduled examination. "The examination has now been postponed and the school shut temporarily," she said.
Rubi Singh, a parent, said she got a call from one of the school teachers that her daughter has been admitted to a hospital after she complained of breathlessness, following the gas leak. "I was so worried. I immediately rushed to the hospital, now my daughter is out of danger," she said.
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia said he will visit the children in the hospitals and that he has spoken to a few children on phone. "I have asked district magistrate to investigate the leak. Doctors have also said there is no problem," he said.
A probe has been ordered into the incident and strict action will be taken against anyone found guilty, said another police official.
Gas leak is not uncommon in India, the most infamous being the tragedy in the central Indian city of Bhopal in 1984 when a poisonous gas leak from the Union Carbide Corporation plant killed several thousand people and injured more than half a million.
