REGGIO EMILIA. A chemical cloud, of sulfuric acid reacting with another component, was released this morning around 8am from the swimming pools of Guastalla (Reggio Emilia), a private facility, adjacent to many schools in the town – 2 thousand students – causing coughing and watery eyes. There are 150 intoxicated people, mostly boys, reports the mayor Camilla Verona, some hospitalized in the emergency room in Guastalla, others in the hospitals of Reggio Emilia and Montecchio.
41 people intoxicated in a swimming pool in Milan, the NBCR unit intervenes
07 May 2024
From what we have learned, none of the intoxicated people are in danger of dying. The situation, explains the mayor Camilla Verona, “is now slowly returning, with the children starting to return to class”. The emergency services intervened “immediately” also because the swimming pool facilities are very close, within a radius of a hundred metres, to the fire brigade, carabinieri, local health authority and emergency room. «A very favorable condition for the timeliness of the intervention».
However, the facilities are also adjacent to a closed sports hall and many schools. The Russell and Carraro high schools were evacuated, in fact many students did not even enter class since the cloud was released around 8am close to the entrance bell.
How the chemical cloud was created
The yellowish chemical cloud released from the Guastalla swimming pools this morning apparently originated from an accident during maintenance work on the plant’s purifiers. According to what was learned, an employee of a chemical company had brought sulfuric acid, a substance widely used in many swimming pools equipped with automatic regulation to lower the pH of the water, for storage. However – this is one of the hypotheses formulated so far – the acid would have come into contact with another substance, triggering the chemical reaction and the yellowish cloud. Cloud that hit the technician at work, who is among those intoxicated and his life is not in danger.
