13 students hospitalised in Lagos after inhaling poisonous fumes

13 students of Ogba Junior Grammah School,
Ogba, in Ojodu Lagos collapsed yesterday March
6th after inhaling an unidentified poisonous
fumes discharged from one of the cottage
factories in Ogba Shopping Arcade, Vanguard
reports.

This came four months after 25 of the
students of the same school collapsed after
inhaling an unidentified chemical waste
discharged into drainage by a Photo
Laboratory, situated in the Shopping Arcade.

When Vanguard visited the school, the
management and staff were wondering which
company would have discharged such hazardous
fumes this time around.

Also, our correspondent observed that parents of
the students raced to the scene to verify the
condition of their children. While those whose
children weren’t affected by the emission rushed
them back home, some were also sighted wailing
over the ugly incident.

Mr. Oladokun, the father of one of the victims,
who rushed to the scene immediately he heard of
the incident, said: “I was in the office when my
wife called me that my daughter, who is in JSS 3
was also affected.”

The incidents was said to have occurred at about
12:40 pm while the students were still in their
classes.
Vanguard gathered that the leak of the dangerous
gas was least expected as it enveloped the
premises making the victims unconscious.

Officials of the National Emergency management
Agency, NEMA and its Lagos state counterpart,
LASEMA and the Lagos State Environmental
Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU arrived the scene
and rushed the unconscious victims to the Lagos
State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja
for treatment.

Of the 13 affected students, one was a male while
the rest were females. Vanguard investigation
revealed that one of the students was in critical
condition and has been admitted at the Intensive
Care Unit.
Some of the affected students were: Tijani
Mariam, Subaidat Oladokun, Adebiyi Taiwo, Muiz
Rodiat, Ogunbami Omolade, Onaigbe Blessing,
Karimat Akiode, Rasak Gbolahan and Modupe
Idowu.
Vanguard learnt that although the company
responsible for discharging the chemical was yet
to be identified, the state government has shut
the school and the shopping complex indefinitely.

Source: Vanguard