Dagenham chemical incident: Seven hospitalized after fish tank coral leak, homes evacuated

11 August 2024 , 08:04

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Seven people have been taken to hospital following the incident ( Image: UKNIP)

Seven people were rushed to hospital following the incident in Dagenham, which saw police evacuate a number of homes during a nighttime emergency this weekend

Several people were left struggling to breathe following what authorities believe was a "chemical incident" sparked by a coral toxin.

Emergency personnel sent hazardous response teams to the site of a suspected chemical leak in Dagenham, east London, on Saturday night after multiple residents of Wren Road reported breathing difficulties. The London Ambulance Service said it sent "a number of resources" to the neighbourhood after the terrified residents’ panicked calls. 

A spokesperson for the service said: “We were called at 9.46pm on 10 August to reports of an incident at a residential address on Wren Road. We sent a number of resources including ambulance crews, an incident response officer and members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART)." 

"We responded alongside colleagues from London Fire Brigade. We treated seven patients and took them all to hospital.” Hazard response teams eventually concluded that the source of the residents’ issues was a deadly substance named palytoxin, which was released from coral in a fish tank. 

Playtoxin is a potent poison known to cause coughing, fever, chills, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, chest pains and respiratory distress, and can be deadly. Authorities have responded to the locally released toxin by condoning off 10 homes, and those affected by the incident are now receiving hospital treatment.

Thomas Brown