TAWAU: Six men were admitted to the Tawau Hospital after they were exposed to a gas leak, believed to be chlorine, while do excavation work at the workers’ quarters construction site of a shrimp breeding farm in Wakuba, here, on Wednesday.
Tawau Fire and Rescue Station Chief Jemishin Ujin said one person was admitted to the hospital’s Red Zone after fainting, while the other five were admitted to the Yellow Zone due to breathing difficulties.
The six, aged between 19 and 43, comprised one Indonesian and five Filipinos. He said firefighters were deployed to the scene 35km away after receiving a distress call on the incident which occurred around 11am.
Jemishin said civilians living 500 metres from the vicinity were moved to one kilometre away for safety.
“Firefighters also carried out zoning works using gas detectors to take radiation readings of materials and patching leaks on barrels identified as chlorine using soil and plastic.
“Decontamination works were carried out before the operation ended at 8.36pm,” he added.
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