Brit tourists ’told to run’ from Menorca hotel after toxic chemical leak

08 August 2024 , 10:13

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Staff evacuated 400 people following the incident ( Image: MMN/SOLARPIX.COM)

An investigation is now set to take place into the chemical leak, believed to have occurred following a "human error" at the four-star Royal Son Bou Family Club Hotel

Tourists staying at a Brit holiday hotspot in Menorca were "told to run" following a toxic chemical leak incident that hospitalised more than a dozen people.

Seven ambulances, police, firefighters and paramedics rushed to the four-star Royal Son Bou Family Club Hotel following an incident on Wednesday. Staff kept around 400 guests - just under half of the roughly 940 tourists for which the establishment is currently catering - from their rooms for nearly four hours as more than a dozen workers were rushed to the emergency room. 

Holidaymakers in the affected area said they were told to run for exits as a dangerous cloud of gases coming from the swimming pool storeroom area invaded a main building with a bar and restaurant inside. Holidaymakers in two of the apart-hotel complex’s buildings as well as guests around part of the pool were asked to clear the area.

Authorities will investigate the incident, which is believed to have occurred due to human error. The gas cloud is believed to have developed after hydrochloric acid was poured into one of the chlorine tanks in the pool’s machine room during a lorry delivery. 

A worker who asked not to be named told a local paper: “We were told to run and we ran. The smell was very strong in the restaurant where we were when we opened the door.” Nine people complaining of respiratory and stomach problems were expected to be kept in hospital overnight as a precaution before being released this morning. There were no reports of any tourists needing medical assistance or hospitalisation.

Things were back to normal at the hotel by 4.30pm yesterday. The incident is the second of its kind at a European hotel in as many months, with a smaller-scale evacuation required at a hotel in Cyprus in July.

Last month at least 26 guests at a hotel in the Middle Eastern nation were hospitalised after inhaling toxic fumes from chemicals used by a maintenance worker. More than a dozen children were reportedly taken to Paphos General Hospital.

James Smith