Toxic fumes down 50 dumpsite scavengers

About 50 scavengers, including 18 children, were hospitalized the other day after inhaling toxic fumes from a poisonous substance in a drum discarded in a dumpsite in Sapang Palay, Quezon City.

The victims, most of whom were planning to spend the Holy Week in their respective provinces, suddenly found themselves in the emergency room of the East Avenue Medical Center and other hospitals in the city.

According to reports, the scavengers were going about their work while some were packing for the holidays when they suddenly noticed "white and yellow powder" in the air.

Sources said the chemicals were sulfur, but according to EAMC attending physician Emmanuel Bueno, "the case is still under observation." Residents reportedly inhaled the fumes at about 4 p.m.

"It is very hard to speculate what kind of substance the patients inhaled in the dumpsite. This is why we are not releasing any of them until we are sure they are safe from harm," Bueno said in an interview.

According to some of the victims, they began to suffer headaches and their eyes started to water a short while after they inhaled the chemicals. Authorities have yet to find out who were responsible for the throwing of the substance in the dumpsite.

"My whole family suddenly lost the appetite to eat one hour after we inhaled the fumes. We didn’t have difficulty breathing, but we all had migraines and we were rushed to the hospital," one of the patients said.