Six underage students and a teacher from the Shared Schooling Unit were intoxicated this Tuesday in Tàrrega by the inhalation of toxic vapors generated during a painting activity. The incident forced the evacuation of the building, which also houses the adult school, and mobilized the Generalitat Firefighters, SEM ambulances, and Local Police patrols.
The alert reached emergency services at 12:08 PM, after a toxic cloud formed when bleach was added to a bucket containing remnants of another liquid product. The episode occurs less than a month after another accidental chemical reaction in the city's municipal indoor swimming pool, where nine people were injured on April 24th by mixing chlorine and hydrochloric acid.
The mixture of bleach forced the evacuation of the first floor and the restroom area
The operation focused on the restroom area and the first floor of the building. Five units of the Generalitat Firefighters accessed the facility to ventilate the premises, while medical teams attended to those affected with mild symptoms.
Emili Gilabert, councilor for Education, framed the incident as an unintentional handling of products during the activity.
"This is an incident resulting from an accidental mixture" - Emili Gilabert, councilor for Education
Two of the affected individuals were transferred to the Arnau de Vilanova hospital in Lleida. Another five received attention at the primary care center in the capital of Urgell.
Ventilation allowed people to return to the building before the intervention ended
The Generalitat Firefighters maintained the ventilation of the building until 1:00 PM. From that moment on, people who had not been affected were able to return inside the facility.
The emergency was resolved in stages. The last affected person was transferred around 2:00 PM to the Arnau de Vilanova hospital.
The closest precedent in Tàrrega occurred on April 24th, when nine people were injured at the municipal indoor swimming pool due to another accidental chemical reaction. That day, the mixture of chlorine and hydrochloric acid forced the evacuation of about 60 people and kept the facilities closed for the entire weekend.