Gas sparks alarm at school

Calm is slowly falling over Langkær Gymnasium in Aarhus, where a gas alarm sounded on Wednesday.

Some 800 students were evacuated and a total of 24 students and staff needed treatment after suffering symptoms brought on by moving through a corridor where there had apparently been a gas leak.

Besides the police, five ambulances also arrived at the gymnasium after the alarm was called.

24 people treated at the scene

“Medical personnel treated 24 people at the scene, who presented with symptoms such as coughing and vomiting,” said a press liaison officer for East Jutland Police, Mogens Brøndum.

“We don’t think that what they have been exposed to is dangerous, though, so they have all been sent home with a message to contact the emergency doctor on call or their own GP, if they start to feel worse,” he continued.

It has not yet been confirmed what the teachers and students were exposed to.

Thought to be tear gas

“Our preliminary conclusion is that what we are talking about here is probably CS-gas, better known as tear gas,” Brøndum said.

“A few individuals at the gymnasium could recognise both the smell and the symptoms, as those one gets from tear gas, but the Danish Emergency Management Agency has found neither traces of poison gas nor tear gas at the gymnasium.”

Possibly premeditated

Police are now trying to find out how the gas was released into the school and have not ruled out the possibility that a student could have been behind the incident.

“This will have to wait for the investigation. If the gas was released purposefully, those responsible for doing it will, at the very minimum, be charged with violating the possession of weapons act,” said Brøndum.