Environmental health news: Gas leak at Sydney Airport

Approximately 900 people were evacuated from part of Sydney International Airport on Friday (December 11th) following a suspected gas leak in one of the terminal buildings.

There were 27 casualties as a result of the incident, who were all treated at the scene for nausea and burning to the throat.

Specialists from the New South Wales (NSW) fire brigade were called into find the source of the leak but were unable to identify it.

NSW fire brigades spokesperson Warwick Kidd told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was unlikely that they would ever know what substance had caused the incident.

"We did endless amounts of air sampling right throughout the whole departure and arrivals terminal and we were getting no readings at all," he commented.

The area was declared safe by police officials in the early hours of Saturday (December 12th) morning.

In 2008, an average of 90,000 passengers passed through the airport each day. Its international terminal serves 35 airlines that operate routes to 47 destinations around the world.

Posted by Joseph Hutton