Dozens of tourists including Brits hospitalised in swimming pool poisoning near Marbella

Dozens of tourists including Brits hospitalised in swimming pool poisoning near Marbella At least 60 people needed hospital treatment for toxic gas poisoning after a problem with the pump for the swimming pool at a hotel in Benahavis near Marbella Dozens of holidaymakers at a Costa del Sol hotel have been taken to hospital with toxic gas poisoning. At least 60 people needed hospital treatment due to the release of the gas after a pump problem at their swimming pool, while others received medical attention at the unnamed hotel in Benahavis near Marbella. An investigation into the scare was ongoing today. A regional government official told local press it appeared the circuit breaker on the pressure pump that injects chlorine and acid into the pool tripped and the system failed. He said the chlorine and PH systems stopped working as a result of the fault while other gases continued to be released. Children and elderly people, including holidaymakers from the UK, were taken to Marbella’s Costa del Sol Hospital according to Malaga-based paper Sur. The pool was subsequently sealed off and closed “for maintenance reasons.” It was closed yesterday but it was not immediately clear this morning if it would reopen today. "All I heard was that there were problems with the water, but I don't know what happened," said a Polish tourist at the hotel. Staff from a public health and clinical laboratory based in the Malaga TechPark, around 45 minutes from Marbella, were seen carrying out tests. As well as swimming pool and drinking water analysis, the firm also specialises in testing foods for E.coli and Salmonella. A major chlorine leak at a hotel in Majorca in July 2022 left more than 20 people including children poisoned. The drama occurred at the Sea Club Hotel in the resort of Alcudia. A number of holidaymakers are said to have suffered symptoms including vomiting, skin irritation, and itching. Health workers administered oxygen to some of those affected in the hotel’s garden area. Pool-related poisonings occur when chlorine concentrations and the pH are not kept at the proper levels. That leads to the formation of toxic substances that cause eye irritation, respiratory problems and gastrointestinal disorders. And in August, 2024, a dozen people were hospitalised due to gases coming from the swimming pool storeroom area of a hotel in Menorca. Seven ambulances, police, firefighters and paramedics rushed to the four-star Royal Son Bou Family Club Hotel following the incident. Staff kept around 400 guests from their rooms for nearly four hours as more than a dozen workers were rushed to the emergency room. The incident was believed to have been caused by human error, with a gas cloud developing after hydrochloric acid was poured into one of the chlorine tanks in the pool’s machine room during a lorry delivery.