Seven people rushed to hospital and homes cordoned off after fish tank leaks deadly 'chemical toxin'

11 August 2024, 09:50 | Updated: 11 August 2024, 10:02

Seven people have been taken to hospital with breathing difficulties following a major fish tank leak in east London.

Emergency services were deployed hazardous response teams to the site in Dagenham on Saturday night following a suspected chemical leak.

Residents on Wren Road were evacuated at around 10pm on Saturday following reports of breathing difficulties, with paramedics taking seven to hospital.

Personnel from the London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade were in attendance amid reports multiple residents suffering from breathing difficulties.

Hazardous response teams identified the chemical as palytoxin, a potentially deadly biohazard which was released from coral in a nearby fish tank.

The London Ambulance Service said it sent "a number of resources" to the neighbourhood after the terrified residents' panicked calls.

They arrived to find a number of people suffering from severe breathing difficulties, with the toxin capable of triggering coughing, fever, chills, a sore throat, headache, muscle aches, chest pains and respiratory distress.

Emergency services confirmed that 10 homes have been cordoned off as a result of the leak.

It's believed that halide lights, commonly used to sustain coral in domestic fish tanks, can spark what's known as heat stress in corals not submerged in water.

The process leads to the release of palytoxin, the toxin involved in the leak.

"London Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 9.46pm on 10 August to reports of an incident at a residential address on Wren Road," a spokesperson said.

"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.”