Aquatics Center gas leak: Major incident after ‘high amount of chlorine’ causes casualties

London Aquatics Center says they are waiting for advice on when to reopen:

My colleagues Thomas Kingsley in the Jane Dalton have the latest details about the gas leak this morning at the Olympic Park Aquatics Center in London:

Here is a statement from a London Fire Brigade spokesman earlier today:

“Due to a chemical reaction a large quantity of chlorine gas was released. London Ambulance Service treated a number of patients. Around 200 people were evacuated from the center. While we were ventilating the premises we would ask the residents in the immediate area, doors and windows to close.

Firefighters were called this morning at 9:45 p.m.

Here are some more pictures from the scene today:

Thomas Kingsley spoke with 42-year-old Graham Redman, who was evacuated from the water center this morning.

“Around 9.35am we were told to get out of the pool and that there was some sort of chemical reaction. There were kids in the pool and also a parent and baby class,” he said.

“The staff was very organized to get us out. They immediately had foil blankets for us when we got out. There were some people who needed oxygen masks, the kids shared the masks around.

He added: “There was no panic; it was all very tidy. We just had to wait outside for a while before they went in again to get our things.

London Aquatics Center says it has canceled bookings for today and tomorrow:

Here are some pictures from the scene:

Metropolitan police said officers were at the scene following a “leak of toxic fumes” at the Aquatics Center in East London.

The force said it was alerted to the incident by the London Fire Brigade just before 10am and was on the scene at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

“A number of people have been evacuated from the premises,” the Met statement said.

Jordan Willians, an elevator engineer at a neighboring construction site evacuated after the gas incident, said Thomas Kingsley on site:

“I came from work and all these ambulances were outside. I saw some people outside who were being treated by the ambulance – there were adults and some children.

“When I got my things outside, the ambulance came in and they started closing the road so I could tell it was pretty serious. I worked here for a year and a half and we’ve never had anything like it before.

The place – which has two 50-meter pools and diving facilities – was used during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was designed by architect Zaha Hadid and sits in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, East London.

The center was opened to the public in 2014 – two years after it was used in the Olympic Games. We reported on it at the time: