Twenty five students of Ogba Junior Secondary
School went into coma on Thursday in Lagos
after inhaling a chemical waste allegedly
discharged into drainage by Bizcircuit Photo
Laboratory situated in Ogba Shopping Plaza,
Lagos. The incident occurred at about 12.40pm while
the students were still in their classes shortly
before the close of school for the day. The situation led to panic from the school
authority and some parents that raced to the
scene. Officials of the various state emergency
management agencies arrived the scene and
rushed the unconscious victims to Blue Cross
Hospital and Lagos University Teaching
Hospital, LASUTH. Head of Logistic, Lagos State Emergency
Management Agency (LASEMA) Mr. Femi Giwa
told journalists at the scene that of the 25
victims four were in critical condition and
presently responding to treatment. He said a distress call was received and the
officials responded immediately to save the
situation. Giwa said on arriving the scene, the team
conducted a general assessment and
discovered that certain liquid chemicals with
offensive and choking odour was stored and
used for production in the photo lab on the first
floor of the shopping complex. He said the offensive odour permeated the
environment, which could have led to the
unfortunate incident. He said the government sealed off the premises
and arrested three of the staff of the photo
studio. He however assured that proper investigation
would be conducted to ascertain the chemical
analysis and its effect on the environment. The State Director of Fire and Safety Services,
Mr. Rasaq Fadipe, said officials assisted the
rescue operations to avoid the spread of
chemical fumes. thenationonlineng.net/new/25-students-collapse-company-discharge-chemical-waste-lagosthenationonlineng.net/new/25-lagos-pupils-collapse-inhaling-chemical-waste-2//

Very bad

all the school children should be tested for the likely hazard which may result from the inhalation of the discharged materials and treated so that the students will not develope complications resulting from the material in the future.

The industry also should be fined and made to compensate those students.

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