A chemical incident at a central London hospital left nine people needing treatment by paramedics and sparked a mass evacuation.
Around 150 patients and staff had to be evacuated from the basement and ground floor of Guy’s Hospital in London Bridge after chlorine gas was produced in the plant room.
Firefighters, including specialist hazardous materials officers, were called to the hospital shortly before 8.50am on Thursday.
The London Fire Brigade said one person was injured as a result of a chemical reaction while several others who came to their aid had to be treated for inhaling chlorine gas.
The London Ambulance Service later confirmed it treated nine patients, with four being taken to hospital.
A police officer at the scene explained that there was a chemical leak in the basement of Guy’s hospital.
The officer told The Sun newspaper: "One of the engineers accidentally mixed chlorine with sulphuric acid, and it totally exploded.”
“There’s been a chemical spill in the basement that was potentially quite dangerous," another police officer added.
"But it’s all been cleared and it’s absolutely no risk to anybody."
Even small amounts of chlorine gas can lead to irritation in the eyes, throat and lungs, while exposure to high levels can be fatal.
Read our live blog of how the incident unfolded.
Firefighters were stood down at 11.09am when the incident became under control.
A statement from London Fire Brigade said: Firefighters have carried out a sweep of the area to check for no elevated readings of chlorine gas.
“The building has also been ventilated. Crews also supported with the precautionary evacuation of the basement and ground floors of the building.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, an incident response officer, a paramedic in a fast response car, an emergency planning officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team.
“We treated nine people at the scene. We took four patients to hospital and discharged the other five patients at the scene.”
Guy’s is a major elective centre with 400 beds, specialising in cancer, kidney, urology and dental care, as well as ear, nose and throat and orthopaedics.
A spokesperson for Guy’s and St Thomas’s said on Thursday: “The London Fire Brigade attended a chemical incident in a non-patient area of Guy’s Hospital today.
“One staff member was injured and several people, who came to the aid of the person, were treated for the inhalation of chlorine gas.
“The site has now reopened and people should attend their appointments unless they are contacted by us directly.”
