ST GEORGE’S – The National Disaster Management Agency has evacuated people from the village of Telescope in the eastern parish of St Andrew after many of them were treated at hospital on Sunday after inhaling concentrated chlorine gas.
Medical, disaster, fire and police officials rushed to the area after the residents complained that they were being badly affected by the situation.
The Water and Sewerage Authority said tests confirmed a chlorine leak coming from the site where their tanks had been buried for more than two decades.
The agency manager Christopher Husbands said the land where the tanks are buried is owned by the company and that people have been living there illegally.
On Monday, the company started evacuation work in the area to remove the tanks, but Husbands admitted that at least one house had been constructed where the tanks were buried and sealed with concrete.
Hospital authorities confirmed that a number of people had been treated after they complained of coughing and in some cases, vomiting.
Residents complained that the smell had become unbearable, with Wayne Walker saying “many residents had to run out of their houses and head to the bay . . .”
“Many people started vomiting around here, and as a result of that I decided to take the children to the hospital and many people around here took their children to the hospital too,” he added.
Residents said plants were also dying as a result of the situation and the NDMA said it had evacuated 25 people to a neighbouring village. (CMC)
