Chlorine accident in the outdoor pool Bergneustadt: Special forces close the leak in a gas cylinder. © Markus Klümper/dpa/picture alliance
Chlorine gas leak in the Bergneustadt outdoor pool. Around 100 firefighters and rescue workers were on duty on Friday. Six people had to be hospitalized.
Bergneustadt – Around 200 guests of the outdoor pool in Bergneustadt had to experience an abrupt end to the bathing day. On Friday, at around 15:30 p.m., chlorine gas leaked from the plant. The fire brigade cleared the bathroom and closed the adjacent road. Between 80 and 100 emergency personnel were on site.
Bergneustadt outdoor swimming pool sounds chlorine gas alarm: fire brigade clears area
Chlorine gas has a strong corrosive effect on the respiratory tract and can cause edema in the lungs. If inhaled, there is a danger to life. In addition, the gas can also enter the body through the skin.
In bathing suits and without their belongings, the guests had to fall the grounds, reports Radio Berg, citing a spokesman for the German Red Cross. Initially, the district control center assumed a so-called mass casualty incident, writes the Kölnische Rundschau.
Fire chief Michael Stricker explains to the paper: Firefighters then found the leak in gas cylinders in an above-ground container. A water treatment plant mixes bath water and chlorine in it. Three cylinders with 50 liters of chlorine gas each were connected to it, one of them was leaking.
Bergneustadt outdoor swimming pool: fire brigade closes gas cylinder leak – five children and a woman in hospital
Dressed in yellow full-protection suits, emergency services approached the leak and were apparently able to patch it up without any major problems. There had been a lot of gas leakage, but there was no damage to property. Measurements then revealed chlorine gas levels in a low range on the site.
Nevertheless, the adjacent Kölner Straße remained closed until the early evening. And the fire brigade took care of 55 people. Six of them – five children and one woman – were taken to hospital with respiratory problems. A similar incident occurred in Bergheim in mid-April. There, 21 children were injured by chlorine gas.
Unsightly scenes occurred in an open-air swimming pool in Berlin's Pankow district. Around 20 young people engaged in a mass brawl, and the police had to intervene. (moe)