28 vomit and experience dizziness at school due to chemical contamination

JOHOR BAHRU - A total of 24 students, two teachers, and two canteen workers at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sungai Tiram, Kampung Sungai Tiram in Ulu Tiram here experienced dizziness and vomiting on Tuesday, believed to be due to chemical contamination.

Senior Fire Officer II commander of operations, Mohd Salleh Mohamed, stated that the Johor Jaya Fire and Rescue Department received an emergency call regarding the chemical odor contamination incident at 3:13 p.m., after which 17 personnel were dispatched to the scene.

He said they were assisted by experts from the Hazardous Material Unit from theJohor, Melaka, and Negeri Sembilan fire departments to detect the chemical odor contamination.

"A Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) vehicle, an Emergency Medical Response Service (EMRS) unit, and a hazmat vehicle from the Larkin Fire and Rescue Department were also dispatched to the scene.

"Upon arrival at the scene, the Operations Output Team (PKO) found that 10 victims experienced dizziness and two students were vomiting. PKO conducted an investigation to identify the source of the contamination odor.

"All students and teachers were instructed to leave the school area immediately. PKO conducted periodic air readings at the scene in collaboration with the Johor Department of Environment (JAS)," he said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

He said at 8 p.m., the hazmat team carried out detection work at two different locations using a gas analyzer (gasmet).

He said the first location was an illegal palm oil processing factory site and the second location was an orchid farm.

"The readings obtained at both locations were normal, and at 12 noon today, the hazmat team conducted a final detection using a 'scanning imaging gas infrared system at several designated sectors.

"The Ministry of Health also assisted in plotting the residents with symptoms to determine the extent of the sectors to be detected," he said.

He clarified that the rad detection indicated no discovery of hazardous substances, and the detection using sigis 2 and gasmet equipment was still ongoing.

He mentioned that the main focus involved a radius of 5 kilometers around the concerned school since the source of the substance had not yet been found. By 6 p.m. on Wednesday, detection work had been conducted in five sectors.

"The use of a survey meter in sector 1 found normal background radioactivity readings while sectors 2, 3, and 4 using 'sigis 2' and 'gasmet GT5000' found no chemical or odor readings.

"However, In sector 5, at a factory area using 'gasmet GT5000,' an increase in 'methyl mercaptan' readings of 50ppm (osha permissible exposure limit: 10ppm, idlh: 150ppm) was found. When using a 'long-range detector earlier,' no readings were detected," he said.

Mohd Salleh stated that after the assessment at the scene, an increase in 'methyl mercaptan' readings was found, indicating an activity of burning IBC tanks containing solid and liquid waste, as well as disposing of solid and liquid waste materials was happening in the waterway near the river.

As a result of the findings, he said the next operation would be handed over to the Johor Department of Environment for further action.

"In this operation, a total of 11 JAS personnel, 11 Pasir Gudang City Council personnel, five police officers, four District Health Office personnel, and 15 MOH personnel were involved.

"The operation ended at 6 p.m.," he said.