Safety probe after chlorine gas leak
A safety investigation was under way today after almost 50 swimmers and pool staff were treated by paramedics following a chlorine gas leak at a Black Country swimming baths.
Screaming children still in their costumes were seen fleeing as staff raised the alarm.
Thirty two adults and children were taken to hospital by ambulance following the leak at closure-threatened Coseley Baths.
Swimmers, mainly children, and one as young as eight, were wrapped in foil blankets and protective layers as they received emergency treatment in tents set up at the scene in Pear Tree Lane.
Drama student Zoe Beresford, aged 18, was taken to hospital on a stretcher after suffering an asthma attack and running a temperature when she became trapped in a locker room during yesterday's drama.
Staff had not realised she was still there until her friend Jon Burgess, also 18, raised the alarm. Staff returned to the building to fetch Miss Beresford.
Grandmother Linda Turton, of Wallbrook Street, said her four-year-old grandson Ethan Hollington had just left the baths with his mother Sarah, 31, of Milton Road, and grandfather Phillip Turton moments before the scare. Off-duty ambulance technician Mr Turton, who swam the first width of Coseley Baths on its opening day, was helping to treat patients at the scene.
Minibuses ferried casualties, who were vomiting and struggling to breathe due to the spillage, to hospital. Sixteen others were treated in two assessment tents during the emergency, which started at 1pm yesterday.
Fire service group commander Malcolm Westwood said: " It looks like an accidental spillage that's resulted in this chlorine gas cloud." Anyone with persistent symptoms is urged to contact NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.
