Desperate parents rush to save children as Umbilo Secondary School faces chemical crisis.
Image: Cherie' Vertuin
"I don't wish this on anybody."
These are the words of worried parent Zalita Kruger who could only standby and watch as Umbilo Secondary School in Wentworth, south of Durban, descended into chaos as learners and teachers alike complained of a pungent gas leak.
Just after 10am on Thursday, the mother who has two children with serious health conditions, saw the commotion and came out to see what was happening.
She told IOL that she smelled a chemical in the air.
"I could clearly smell the gas, and we were told that there was some leak.
"Some of the children were already fainting in the nearby tuckshop."
Unsure of what was happening, Kruger fetched her son from the institution as well as two other girls.
"My son is also a cardiac patient, which is why I reacted quickly. I also have a four-and-a-half-month-old baby who has bronchial pneumonia at the moment.
"It makes it tougher now because I have to keep saline solution and the nebuliser on standby in case he starts struggling to breathe," she said.
This alarming event is not uncommon in the area, she added.
She said she hoped the children who were rushed to the hospital get well soon.
ALS Paramedics and a number of emergency services were on the scene. The spokesperson for the organisation Garrith Jamieson said they received multiple calls of mass casualty incidents involving school children.
"Multiple units were dispatched and there often seem to find chaos.
"Numerous school children had been affected by what has appeared to be some sort of gas or chemical substance in the air that had infiltrated the school," he said.
The patients were triaged, placed in a well-equipped hall, calmed down, and assessed individually.
"We assessed approximately 20 patients in this hall, and I can say approximately six to eight of them have been transported to hospital by ALS Paramedics and EMRs Paramedics."
He added that one of the children is suspected to have suffered from a seizure.
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) coordinator Desmond D'Sa condemned the company that is responsible for the alleged leak.
"We got the smell in our offices first, and we were there when the children were collapsing and all that.
"We tried to call the health officials...Our point is that those companies have repeatedly guessed the children out in Wentworth and other areas of South Durban," he said.
He added that these companies must be thoroughly investigated and that the permits must be revoked if proven that they were not being thorough with their safety measures.
"The permits to operate must be revoked until they provide all the evidence and until they cleanup the mess. It can't be that our children, our families, now our children have been affected.
"Our families have died of cancer on the borders of these big companies for many years of gassing us out. Not the first time, quite a few times. So, we are calling on the authorities to act immediately, and if not, these officials are not prepared to act," said the activist.
He urged the government to appoint new authorities and hold them accountable for their actions. "It's completely unfair," he said.
The eThekwini Fire Department was also on hand to contain any fire that might have broken out.
Senior cultural chief officer (CCO) for KwaZulu-Natal, Melvin Darmans was at home when he said, a woman came screaming for him to assist.
"She told me, 'there is a gas leak by a below school and children are fainting'. I saw a lot of children sitting on the floor.
"We let the children out and we opened the gates because the fire chief said all the children must clear out because the sights are not safe," he told IOL.
He added that he was saddened by the incident and wished the children that are in hospitals a swift recovery.
"We've had major leaks here in our community, nothing happened. And we're saying now the government must stand up.
"We're going to take a drive through the hospital emergency just to check out how they are."
Another woman who asked to remain anonymous said she was fast asleep when a neighbour banged on her door, making her aware of the disaster.
"I felt it and my nose and throat were broke burning. I felt a heaviness in the air. All my animals were inside and the doors and clothes were closed.
"With the children were coming out, I thought it was maybe a water problem, but I am used to it, having lived here for so many years," she said.
She added that the company that is allegedly responsible for the leak should have notified the residents and school.
"There's no form of alarm to let the school know that there's a leak. The children need to be evacuated because they're closer on that side."
IOL contacted the KZN Department of Education for comment but has not received a response at the time of publishing.
*Additional reporting by Cherie' Vertuin
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