Gas Leak At Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Airport, 39 Passengers Fall Ill

Kuala Lumpur: Around 39 people at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur international airport fell ill on Thursday after a gas leak at an aircraft engineering facility, an emergency services official said.

The Selangor state fire department said, that they received a report of a chemical leak at an aircraft engineering facility separate from the passenger terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The engineering facility is separate to the passenger terminal and those affected by the gas worked for three companies operating there, the fire department said in a statement.

“A total of 39 victims suffered from dizziness and nausea,” local rescue officer Muhammad Nur Khairi Samsumin said in a statement. Of which fourteen patients were sent to the air disaster unit to receive treatment, while one was hospitalised.

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.