PASIR GUDANG: Twenty-eight people, including 24 students of two schools in Taman Pasir Putih, were treated for chemical poisoning after inhaling what is believed to be methane gas.
Eight of them are in critical condition following the incident.
The gas is believed to have emanated from a nearby river after chemicals were illegally dumped there.
State Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Dr Sahruddin Jamal said 19 people were sent to Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI), seven to the Pasir Gudang health clinic and two to Penawar Hospital.
“Of the 19 sent to HSI, eight are being treated in the red zone, which is the critical zone, and the rest are in the yellow zone,” he said after visiting SMK Pasir Putih.
It is understood that those sent to the health clinic and Penawar Hospital are in stable condition.
The victims, aged between 7 and 40, consist of 24 students from SMK Pasir Putih and SK Pasir Putih and four canteen workers.
The 1,400 students of the two schools were ordered evacuated from the premises when many became affected by breathing problems and vomiting, with some even fainting.
State Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Yahaya Madis said a tanker lorry was believed to have dumped chemicals illegally into Sungai Kimkim.
This, he said, was based on information received from several witnesses.
“These witnesses saw a tanker lorry stop by the river, near a bridge which is under construction.
“They claimed they saw several men alight from the vehicle and place a hose from the tanker into the river.
“An oily liquid was then released into the river, and this was what was believed to have released methane gas, which affected an area of about 500m radius.”
Yahaya said the department’s hazardous materials (Hazmat) unit and officers from the Department of Environment (DoE) had collected samples from the river.
These, he said, would be tested to ascertain what chemical had been dumped into the river.
He said firemen had used an oil boom to stop the oily liquid from floating further down river.