Chlorine Gas Seeps Into Classrooms and Overpowers Pupils

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26996, 3 February 1949, Page 5

Chlorine Gas Seeps Into Classrooms and Overpowers Pupils

Rec. 11 p.m. CHICAGO, Feb. 1. Deadly chlorine gas seeped into classrooms of a high school during lessons to-day. Fifty-five students became ill, but none seriously. The gas escaped from a broken pipe from a tank in the basement of the school where it is stored for use in purifying water for a swimming pool. It entered the ventilating system and flowed into classrooms. Students began coughing violently, unaware of what was happening to them until the fire bell rang and teachers herded them outside. Many children collapsed in corridors and were carried out by senior students. Seventeen children were treated at hospital and the rest cared for in neighbouring homes by ambulance crews, fire department rescue squads, and private doctors. Doctors administered oxygen to many pupils and injected heart stimulants into some to counteract possible shock. The school engineer, James Sullivan, donned a gasmask and tried to seal the broken pipe, but the mask failed to work. He put a wet handkerchief over his face, but the fumes penetrated it and he collapsed. He was taken to hospital for treatment.