Officials say 40 children in North Carolina were sent to the hospital Wednesday after a chemical leak at a YMCA pool, but that pool is set to re-open today.
Several parents received calls at home or work Wednesday that something went wrong and their child was at the hospital.
One child, 9-year-old Kamali Siler, was at the pool with several other kids when she says children stopped splashing and playing in the water and started getting sick.
“Everybody came out coughing, choking, spitting up, and then they told everyone to get out of the pool,” Siler said. “And once everybody got out of the pool, they were choking and spitting up.”
When their conditions worsened, ambulances carried some of the kids to the hospital.
The children say doctors checked their lungs and blood pressure and some were given medicine to ease irritation.
The chemical that spilled was identified as sodium hypochlorite, which is used regularly in pool maintenance. But officials said a mechanical issue caused it to mix with another chemical.
The YMCA is scheduled to be re-opened Thursday as further assessments continue.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)