Frida-Kahlo School in Sankt Augustin No classes after chlorine gas leak at special-needs school
Sankt Augustin · No classes could take place on Tuesday after the chlorine gas leak at the swimming pool of the LVR-Frida-Kahlo School in Sankt Augustin. Those injured have now been able to leave hospital.
Leaking chlorine gas in the cellar of the swimming pool at the Frida-Kahlo School triggered a major operation for the fire brigade and rescue services on Monday lunchtime. Around 200 children had to be brought to safety from the special needs school for physical and motor skills development. The fire brigade rescued seven pupils, some with so-called escape hoods. Eight slightly injured pupils were taken to nearby hospitals as a precautionary measure, two further people were treated by rescue services at the scene. The Rhineland Regional Council (LVR) said on Tuesday that the pupils were able to leave hospital on Monday evening.
Lessons were cancelled the day after the incident. All rooms needed to be aired and checked by the fire brigade. The LVR said in a statement that it assumes that lessons can start again as normal on Wednesday.
Rescue services searched buildings
Staff at the school noticed the pungent chemical smell around 1.59pm on Monday. Despite numerous fire doors, the volatile gas spread extremely quickly throughout the entire building. “We tested and quickly established that it really was chlorine,” confirmed Sankt Augustin’s fire chief Herbert Maur at the scene.
Further emergency personnel from Niederkassel, Bornheim and Eitdorf, who are trained in handling dangerous substances and goods, were immediately called to Sankt Augustin, along with district fire chief Dirk Engstenberg, the medical director of the rescue services, Christian Diepenseifen and Lucia Wickert, a chemical incidents expert. The rescue services searched the building wearing protective suits against chemicals and breathing equipment. “You can never rule out that children may have hidden somewhere in a panic,” explained fire brigade spokesperson Sascha Lienesch. “Several containers of chlorine were also found in the building’s cellar and taken outside.”
Cause still unknown
It was still unclear on Tuesday morning exactly where and how the aggressive chemical had escaped and this will be further investigated. As the concentration of chlorine in the air also increased outdoors, the fire brigade built up a water wall to absorb the gases. A larger scale evacuation was not necessary, even in the neighbouring Heinrich-Hanselmann School.
Original text: Thomas Heinemann. Translation: kc
