Two children still hospitalised and two arrests over noxious fumes at Paphos hotel

Two children are being kept as a precaution in hospital on Tuesday after they suffered from inhalation of chlorine fumes at a Paphos hotel. The children’s respiratory symptoms are reported as mild.

Meanwhile, police have arrested two staff members for the incident, a 57-year-old supervisor and a 28-year-old worker, who was acting on the supervisor’s instructions.

According to the fire department spokesman, the worker poured calcium hydrochloride and chlorine in the pool’s overflow channel, substances which cause a chemical reaction generating toxic fumes when mixed.

The staff members are being investigated for negligence or reckless acts, while the employee who carried out the pool maintenance is also being investigated for performing work outside of their official duties.

Questions have been raised as to why the chemical disinfection treatment was carried out a time when bathers were still in the water and around the pool area.

The incident which occurred in Geroskipou on Monday afternoon resulted in 26 people being transferred via ambulance to the hospital, of whom fourteen were children.

The noxious fumes generated can cause skin irritation or burns as well as respiratory problems, however, fortunately those present suffered mild symptoms which dissipated without serious complications.

Authorities have taken statements from the hotel’s patrons and staff, as well as samples for lab testing in the ongoing investigation.

Of the 26 people who required treatment, two boys aged eight and nine, were kept in hospital for precautionary reasons.

The state health insurance organisation (Okypy), meanwhile, said the incident sparked an immediate activation of protocols for the exposure of people to chemical agents. Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou, speaking on CyBC’s morning programme, commended the health service’s immediate and effective action, particularly as the incident occurred after hours.

He said the Paphos general hospital has now been put on standby in readiness for further cases.

“The successful treatment of mass attendance of people at the [hospital’s emergency department] confirms the uniqueness of public hospitals and the important role they play in public health incidents,” the organisation said in an earlier statement.

“Public hospitals are the only ones that have the infrastructure, staff, equipment, know-how and expertise to deal with mass incidents, epidemics and mass disasters and we must keep them that way,” Okypy said.