Gas leak at Malaysia’s main international airport sickens 39

Authorities say leak traced to abandoned skid tank at aircraft engineering facility.

A gas leak at Malaysia’s main international airport has left 39 people ill, authorities have said.

Fire services on Thursday responded to a report of a chemical leak at an aircraft engineering facility separate from the passenger terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Selangor state fire department said.

“A total of 39 victims suffered from dizziness and nausea,” local rescue officer Muhammad Nur Khairi Samsumin said in a statement.

Fourteen of the patients were sent to the air disaster unit to receive treatment, while one was hospitalised, according to authorities.

All of those affected work for three firms operating at the facility.

Officials said the incident did not affect passengers or flights, and that there was no wider risk to public safety.

Police said the gas leak had been traced to a skid tank that had been left unattended for nine years.

Muhammad Nur said the leaked gas was identified as methyl mercaptan, which is added to liquefied petroleum gas to give it a smell similar to rotten cabbages so that leaks can be detected.

“Work to cover the leak was being done by the emergency crew,” he said.