Sixteen people, including 14 children, have been taken to hospital after a gas leak at a Queensland school.
Queensland Ambulance confirmed in a tweet that paramedics had assessed “multiple patients” after the suspected gas leak in the rural town of St George on Tuesday morning.
Emergency services rushed to St George Primary School about 9.30am after gas cylinders reportedly began leaking near the office.
Local media reported paramedics assessed 27 children all up, aged from five to 14, as well as five adults.
Tweet from @QldAmbulance
“Of those patients assessed, 14 paediatric patients were transported to St George Hospital and two adults were transported to St George Hospital,” Queensland Ambulance Services senior operations supervisor John Nolan said.
All had symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, mild respiratory symptoms and headaches.
Crews from the nearby towns of Surat and Roma were called to help, he said.
Firefighters evacuated nearby classrooms and an administration building before the leak was traced to a faulty hot water connection.
“It was determined that there was some gas cylinders leaking near the office,” Mr Nolan said.
“That was quickly isolated by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and local council.
“We’d also arranged for a medical team to attend from St George hospital which consisted of two doctors and four [nurses].”
The 16 taken to hospital were all reportedly in stable conditions.
St George, which has a population of just over 3000, is 420 kilometres west of Brisbane and 100 kilometres from the NSW border.
