Plants wilt, 40 people hospitalized after suspected chlorine leak at Hanoi scrapyard

A chemical cylinder at a family-run scrap business in Hanoi leaked on the morning of Oct. 19, leaving 40 people hospitalized with suspected poisoning.

The leak happened at 7 a.m. at Nguyen Huu Doan's scrap business in Thuong Phuc Commune on the city outskirts, according to the commune's People's Committee of Thuong Phuc.

Doan buys gas cylinders. While the cylinders were waiting to be processed, a worker accidentally threw a piece of scrap iron onto a valve, knocking off a cylinder's cap and releasing the gas inside.

The cylinders were stored on a vacant lot of more than 100 sq.m next to a residential area on Duong Truc Nguyen Street. As the gas spread, many people inhaled it and struggled to breathe.

Trees and plants around the site wilted, their leaves scorched.

The Hanoi police's fire prevention and rescue department sent a team to handle the incident with the commune's Military Command. Authorities at the scene mainly sprayed water over the leak area to dilute the gas, then cordoned it off.

Thuong Tin General Hospital said it received 40 people with suspected gas poisoning that morning. They were workers at the scrap business and people living nearby.

With so many patients arriving at once, the hospital mobilized extra doctors and nurses for its emergency department and triaged patients by severity.

Two people in serious condition were transferred to the Poison Control Center at Bach Mai Hospital, and three others were receiving intensive treatment. The remaining 35 were to stay at the hospital for monitoring for at least 12 hours.

Trees around a Hanoi scrapyard were left with scorched, wilted leaves after gas leak. Photo by VnExpress/Huy Manh

By that evening, Bach Mai's Poison Control Center had received four patients from Thuong Tin, its director Nguyen Trung Nguyen said. Two of them, both men, had respiratory failure and severe airway injuries, while the other two were not in serious condition.

One of the men had very severe lung damage with shock and might need ECMO, a machine that oxygenates the blood outside the body. The other had near-total damage to the cornea of his right eye, seriously threatening his sight.

Leaders of the Hanoi Department of Health directed Thuong Tin General Hospital to focus all its resources on treating patients promptly and sent medical teams from Saint Paul, Duc Giang and Ha Dong hospitals to help. The department also worked with Bach Mai Hospital to give patients the best possible treatment.

Police are investigating the leak. Initial information indicates the cylinder contained chlorine, an industrial chemical commonly used to disinfect tap water, treat swimming pool water and make cleaning products.

In a report that evening, Hanoi police said the leak came from a chlorine cylinder in the business's scrap pile. Authorities said the owner had bought the cylinder along with scrap iron, and commune police are working with other agencies to establish its origin, the cause of the leak and who is responsible.