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35 students hospitalized after suspected gas leak at Chennai school

On October 25, 2024, about 35 students of Victory Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Thiruvottiyur were admitted to nearby hospitals after suffering from breathing difficulties and fainting spells, which were reportedly due to a gas leak with an unpleasant smell.

Currently, almost 20 students continue to be treated in various hospitals, while others have been discharged after outpatient treatment.

Students reported noticing the foul smell over the past two days and around 12:30 p.m. on October 25. Because of the smell, they developed a sore throat and difficulty breathing. Although they alerted their teachers, the initial response was limited to providing hot water. Around 2:30 p.m., students from classes 6 to 10 on a particular floor started fainting one by one, prompting teachers to transport them to a nearby government hospital in Theradi.

Parents who gathered near the school and hospital expressed anger that they were not informed of their children's conditions until 4 p.m.

A senior official of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) suspected that the incident could have been caused by a gas leak in the school laboratory, but stressed that this was not yet confirmed as the investigation was still ongoing. He mentioned that of the 30 or so students affected, all but one are in a stable condition and one student has been transferred to the Government Stanley Hospital for further treatment.

Thiruvottiyur MLA KP Shankar visited the Tsunami Relief Government Hospital and promised that the government would bear all medical expenses of the affected students.

Law enforcement officials investigating the scene said the likelihood that a gas leak from the lab would impact students was low because the lab is on the opposite side of the building where most of the students were affected. However, investigations into the exact cause of the incident are ongoing.

(With inputs from TNIE)

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