GEORGE TOWN, May 7 — The Penang Education Department is conducting a probe into the incident where 12 students of a school in Bayan Lepas accidentally inhaled iodine gas and suffered breathing difficulty during a laboratory experiment yesterday.
The investigation is to identify the cause of the incident at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bayan Lepas, it said in a statement today.
“Schools adhere to a standard operating procedure (SOP) when conducting experiments in the laboratory. The school extended every necessary assistance to all the affected students,” it added.
The incident occurred yesterday morning when 19 students, with the assistance of a teacher, were conducting an experiment on the iodine crystallisation process. Twelve of the students experienced breathing difficulty and started coughing incessantly.
Eleven of the students were treated at the school while one student was taken to the Penang Hospital and administered outpatient treatment. — Bernama
