Chlorine gas scare pupils treated

The pupils were staying at a hotel at Disneyland Paris

Eleven pupils from an Aberdeen secondary school are recovering after being overcome by chlorine gas during a trip to Paris, BBC Scotland can reveal.

The city council said the children from Bridge of Don Academy were using the swimming pool at their hotel on Wednesday evening when they fell ill.

Three children were taken to hospital from the Disneyland Paris complex with breathing difficulties.

A council spokesman said all the children were now "fit and well".

The S1 and S2 pupils were in the pool of the My Travels Explorers hotel when the incident happened.

Other children and adults in the vicinity, not connected with the academy, also felt unwell.

The pool was immediately cleared and a fleet of police, fire and paramedic crews arrived at the scene.

Ventilation system

The children were treated at the scene by doctors and kept under observation in a separate room in the hotel.

Eight were later released but three of the 11 were kept under close observation then taken to hospital as a precaution.

They were released from the hospital at 0230 BST.

The BBC has learned that an initial investigation found chlorine gas had been accidentally pumped through the ventilation system.

On Thursday morning, the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, visited the hotel to make sure the pupils were OK.

The school contacted the parents of all the children involved to reassure them there was nothing to worry about Aberdeen City Council

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said Bridge of Don Academy's deputy head teacher Mike Jamieson was informed of the incident by supervising staff on the trip.

He said: "The school contacted the parents of all the children involved in the incident as soon as their conditions were known, to reassure them there was nothing to worry about.

"The hotel and the school staff were contacted by the school again this morning to make sure all were well.

"The French authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the incident."

About 42 children from the academy are on the trip which left last Saturday evening. They are due back on Saturday morning.

Hazlehead Academy in Aberdeen also has children staying at the hotel but they were not involved in the incident.