Pepper spray leak in Delhi school: 20 students faint while celebrating teacher's birthday

The mishap occurred at Government Girls Senior Secondary School in the Chhatarpur area of ​​South Delhi. As the students were celebrating the birthday of their teacher, someone pressed the knob of the pepper spray can the teacher carried in her bag for self-defense.

New Delhi:As many as 20 girl students of a government school in Delhi fainted on Wednesday afternoon when someone accidentally used a pepper spray can during the birthday celebrations of a teacher.

The mishap occurred at Government Girls Senior Secondary School in the Chhatarpur area of ​​South Delhi. As the students were celebrating the birthday of their teacher, someone pressed the knob of the pepper spray can the teacher carried in her bag for self-defense. At least, 20 students came in contact with the gas and became unconscious.

When the girl students began fainting, they were immediately rushed to Safdarjung Hospital. They all recuperated soon after and are stated to be out of danger. Head of the school Santosh Bhardwaj said the girl students belonging to classes 6 to 8 were taken to the hospital in an ambulance at 2 pm on Wednesday. As per information received from the hospital, initially, 15 girls were brought and later five more were admitted to the hospital.

Deputy Director of Education Ashok Kumar Tyagi said that the birthday celebration of a teacher was going on in the school. "A girl student mistakenly pressed the knob of the pepper spray. The teacher was carrying the spray in her bag. Hence, the release of chemicals in the air led to the fainting of girls," he said.

The Delhi government also issued a statement stating that there was no gas leak in the school and it was the pepper spray carried in a teacher's bag that led to the students getting fainted.