Genset's toxic fumes down 20 teachers

CATBALOGAN  CITY, SAMAR, Philippines —  At least 20 public school teachers in this city were rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, after two of them collapsed and 18 others complained of  dizziness, heart palpitations and respiratory issues, while they were having a conference inside this city's DepEd office.

It was later found out that all of  the 20 teachers were victims of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a power generator they were using inside the rented office.

The police and rescue teams were able to bring the victims immediately to the Samar Provincial Hospital after receiving a call from concerned citizens.

Of the 20 victims, 11 were admitted at the hospital and placed under medical observation while the rest were discharged as outpatients after quickly recovering from the incident.

Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan, in a statement released by her to the media, regretted the unfortunate incident and assured the affected teachers of all the assistance they would need for their speedy recovery and vowed to take the necessary measures to prevent the same incident from happening again.

The Freeman gathered that the city DepEd here was conducting its rationalization plan orientation at around 10:30 a.m. that day inside the rented office, and was using a portable generator set due to an unannounced power outage.

While the genset was running, most of the teachers felt numb and dizzy and some quickly lost consciousness.

Initial investigation by the City Health Office showed that the victims possibly succumbed to "suffocation" after learning that the power generator they were using was simply placed at the office's doorway.

Along with the statement of Mayor Tan, the city government also confirmed that carbon monoxide emitted by the genset was the cause of the suffocation.

Carbon monoxide is a clear and odorless gas discharged by fuel engines.  (FREEMAN)