50 hospitalised as terminal is evacuated

Around 50 people have been hospitalised after a terminal at Melbourne airport was evacuated because of a suspected chemical leak. According to the BBC News website, those taken ill suffered nausea, vomiting and respiratory problems, while hundreds more were evacuated from the Virgin Blue domestic terminal. Internal flights from the airport have been severely delayed, the website reports. While most of those hospitalised have now been allowed to go home, the terminal was still closed at the time of writing, with emergency services trying to establish the cause of the leak. Most of those taken ill are reported to have been security and airport workers. A spokesman for the airport is quoted as saying: “Initially there was immediate testing of the air quality and the air conditioning systems, and nothing was identified through that, that could have caused the problem. But, as we got further reports of people feeling unwell, as a precaution, the aviation rescue and fire fighting crews working on site decided to evacuate the terminal.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd