450 students fall ill after gas leak in Delhi

New Delhi, DHNS: Over 450 girl students of two schools in southeast Delhi were taken ill on Saturday morning following a gas leak in a container depot nearby.

Classes were underway at the Rani Jhansi Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya and Government Girls Senior Secondary School Number 2 in the Tughlaqabad area, abutting the Haryana border, when gas leaked from a container parked at a depot nearby. “The children complained of irritation in the eyes and throat. They were immediately evacuated and sent to hospitals nearby,” Romil Baaniya, Deputy Commissioner of Police, told reporters.

Baaniya said none of the students were serious and the situation was normal. He said legal action would be initiated against those responsible for the container movement for negligence.

By evening, most of the students were discharged from the hospitals after first aid. Doctors were quoted as saying that a tragedy was averted as the fumes were of a diluted version of Chloromethyl Pyridine, a chemical used in manufacturing insecticides and pesticides. The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. The police have registered an FIR in the matter under various sections of IPC and the Environment (Protection) Act.