Chemical leak, two women rushed to Kulai Hospital

JOHOR BAHRU: Two women were rushed to hospital after experiencing symptoms of vomiting, believed to be due to inhalation of chemical fumes of a leaked substance from a storage warehouse that flowed into the river near their house at Jalan Besar Kampung Baru, Sengkang in Kulai last night.

Kulai Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) Operations commander Senior Fire Officer II Bahtiar Selamat said the two local women in their 20s and 60s, were taken to the Kulai Hospital by their family members.

He said the women,who received outpatient treatment at the hospital are reported to be in stable condition.

Bahtiar said a distress call regarding the chemical spill was received at 8.22 pm.

A total of 21 personnel, including from the Harzadous Materials Response Team (HAZMAT) unit in a Fire Rescue Tender machine, an Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) unit and a Hilux utility vehicle were immediately dispatched to the scene.

"Upon arriving at the scene, we found that there were 30 intermediate bulk container (IBC) tanks, each with the capacity of 1,000 litres, containing alkaline materials at the storage facility.

"One of the tanks had burst causing the chemical substance in it to flow into a nearby river," he said in a statement, here today.

Bahtiar said the results of test conducted by HAZMAT found that the leaked chemical substance contained methyltriocdylam monium chloride, hydrogen peroxide solution and n-methyl cyclohexylamine.

He said the fire and rescue team had made three layers of blockades to prevent the waste from flowing into the river and the operation ended at 2.33 am today.

He added that a report about the incident had been lodged to the Department of Environment (DOE).

Meanwhile, Johor DOE director Dr Mohd Famey Yusoff, when contacted by Bernama confirmed receiving the report adding that investigations into the case were ongoing.

-- BERNAMA