Probe as children exposed to chemicals at pool

The Health and Safety Authority has launched an investigation after 25 children were exposed to potentially dangerous chemicals at a university swimming pool.

The incident, which occurred at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, Co Kildare, emerged at about 10.30am yesterday morning when pupils from a local school, aged between eight and nine, were using the pool as part of a six-week swimming course.

While all of the children are expected to make a full recovery, six were last night being treated at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, at Tallaght Hospital and at Temple Street as a “precautionary” measure.

The remaining 19 pupils returned to the Educate Together primary school in Maynooth after being checked by the college’s medical team and other HSE personnel.

The incident, which saw 15 ambulances and rapid response units rush to the scene over fears a tragedy was unfolding, is believed to be linked to routine maintenance works at NUI Maynooth’s campus at the time of the swimming lesson.

It is understood the chemical fumes entered the swimming pool area via a ventilation system before being inhaled by the children.

Marie Hand, principal of the Educate Together school where the pupils — all of whom are in third and fourth class — are enrolled, said the children were the first to raise the alarm.

“Some of our own staff noticed that the kids were starting to cough, and then one or two said that they were feeling nauseous.

“They were immediately taken out of the pool and evacuated from the building,” she said.

An NUI Maynooth spokesperson said six of the 25 children were brought to hospital “as a precautionary measure” after a “maintenance operation going on in a lab beside a swimming pool”.

The spokesperson said “some vapour from the chemicals got into the air conditioning system, which then passed into the swimming pool area,” adding that the pool was “evacuated immediately”.

As the incident occurred on work grounds, the issue is now being investigated by the Health and Safety Authority.

Inspectors from the health watchdog have been assigned to examine the incident to check if there are any “work-place safety issues”.