More than thirty people were "slightly intoxicated" in a college in Martignas-sur-Jalle (Gironde) on Wednesday, probably by gas from an ArianeGroup installation located nearby, the prefecture said.
In total, "34 people from the Aliénor d'Aquitaine college in Martignas-sur-Jalle, including 27 college students, were slightly intoxicated" Wednesday late morning, without causing hospitalization, details the prefecture in a press release.
According to the same source, “the origin of the intoxication could be, according to the first elements, an emanation of hydrochloric acid coming from the combustion of propellant, a fuel intended for propulsion, on the ArianeGroup site in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles ”.
Fuels for Ariane launchers
Arianegroup has two industrial sites in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, west of Bordeaux, located about 5 kilometers from the college where cases of intoxication were detected.
One of these two sites "develops the propellants necessary for the propulsion of the Ariane 5 launcher and the future Ariane 6 launcher", specifies the manufacturer of the Ariane rockets on its website.
Legal proceedings were opened following these slight poisonings, said the Gironde prefecture.