The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that two of its officers who were involved in an operation to suppress gas leak were conveyed to to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital for momentary exposure to the chlorine vapour. They were among the seven individuals sent to the hospital via ambulance from the place of the incident at 3 Jln Samulun. All seven were conscious but experienced eye irritation and difficulty in breathing.
SCDF said tht the incident happened at about 9.20am today (4 Sep), and that 3 fire engines, 4 Hazardous Materials (HazMat) appliances, 3 ambulances and 2 support vehicles were deployed to the location.
It quickly traced the leak to a one-tonne cylinder of chlorine gas housed within an indoor storage facility. It took all of 20 minutes for SCDF HazMat specialist team to plug the leak, while another team simultaneously performed vapour suppression operation using 3 water jets. SCDF said that “this critical operation served to quickly dilute the release of low concentration of chlorine vapour from the leaked cylinder into the surroundings.”
SCDF evacuated all workers from the affected facility and its immediate neighbouring premises from the location, as a safety precaution.
“Latest readings from the HazMat detectors confirmed no traces of chlorine vapour in the surrounding atmosphere. Investigation into the incident is now in progress,” SCDF said.