Acid spill scare at Hastings college

HUNDREDS of students were evacuated from Hastings College after five litres of poisonous acid spilled in a classroom.

Pupils and staff were told to leave the art building, on Archery Road, immediately after the leak was discovered on Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters in breathing apparatus were called to the scene at 2.27pm by a college technician who discovered the potentially deadly leak.

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The building was cordoned off and the faulty bottle of nitric acid was secured and removed to the outside until the environment agency arrived to take it away.

Standing outside, one student, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "We had been near the classroom where the leak happened all day and could smell something odd, but we didn't know what it was.

"A technician then came in, checked the cupboard and ran away quickly.

"The next thing another technician came in, said 'do you know that's toxic' and told us all to leave the building immediately.

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"As we were leaving we saw her trying to deal with the spill wearing a mask. That was scary because we had been breathing in the fumes all day. And when the firemen arrived in their masks and gloves we got really scared."

Fire crews from Bohemia and The Ridge secured the area and placed the acid in a secure drum, cordoned it off on the street and waited for the environment agency to arrive.

Sub-officer Kevin Haywood, from Bohemia fire station, said: "The nitric acid was stored in a cupboard and the leak reacted with the material.

"But the college staff did exactly the right thing in vacating the premises and calling us as nitric acid is potentially very dangerous."

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College principal, Julie Walker, said: "We had a very minor leak from a faulty bottle of nitric acid in a cupboard this afternoon.

"The technician who discovered it alerted another technician who immediately dealt with it according to our procedures. The fire brigade were called as part of the procedure and to remove the substance. No one was injured or at risk. Students in the building were evacuated only as a precaution. Nitric acid can be potentially very dangerous, but we have very carefully laid out procedures which we adhered to. The fire brigade have commended us on our actions."

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