JOHOR BARU: Some 19 secondary school students were rushed to hospitals after swimming in the pool at the Arena Larkin Aquatic Centre in Larkin here recently.
The students were participants in a swimming competition organized by the Johor Schools Sports Council, which took place over three days from Tuesday to Thursday.
They were taken to the nearest private and government hospitals after complaining of vomiting, developing fevers, and experiencing skin itchiness, likely due to the water in the pools at the aquatic centre.
Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said that one of the students is still warded at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital following the incident.
"Based on the reports received, some 900 participants took part in the swimming competition.
"Of these, 19 were admitted to hospitals after developing several symptoms," he said.
Onn Hafiz added that a team from the state Health Department was deployed to the centre to collect samples from the pools, which would be sent to the Chemistry Department.
"The aquatic centre will be closed temporarily while awaiting the report from the Chemistry Department and until all issues have been resolved," he said.
According to Onn Hafiz, the centre will only be reopened to the public after it has been fully repaired to ensure the health and safety of visitors using the facility.
"I pray that the affected students will recover and be healthy as usual," he said.
Onn Hafiz made a suprised visit to the aquatic center after receiving reports about the incident involving 19 participants.
"I saw that the structure of the swimming and diving pools is rusty and needs to be repaired," he said.