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A 3-year-old child was among those hospitalized.
A chemical leak at a Texas water park sent dozens of people to hospital, officials said.
The incident began around 2:30 p.m. Saturday at a kiddie pool at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown in Spring, Texas, when a lifeguard and several guests began to fall ill, the Harris County judge told reporters , Lina Hidalgo.
The children and their parents were experiencing “breathing problems,” and 28 of them were taken to hospitals, the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office said.
After evacuating the park and performing preliminary air and water tests, investigators found that the water contained a chemical combination of 35% sulfuric acid and 10-13% bleach. Spring Texas Fire chief Scott Seifert told reporters. Chemicals are commonly used to clean and treat swimming pools.
More than 65 people were contaminated with the substance, however, no one suffered chemical burns, according to the Office of the Fire Marshal. Those affected have been decontaminated.
The most serious case involved a 3-year-old and as of Sunday the child was stable at the Texas Children’s Hospital, according to Hidalgo.
“Everyone was in the least urgent position,” she said. “Most people felt better afterwards.”
Park officials said in a statement Sunday night that preliminary results indicated “there had been a release of steam in a small outdoor section of the park which had quickly dissipated.”
Jeff Filicko, a spokesperson for Six Flags, said Hurricane Harbor Splashtown would be closed for at least two days to investigate the incident.
“We are working hand-in-hand with Harris County public health officials, as well as third-party industry experts, to determine a cause, and will reopen when we are satisfied that it is safe to do so. do, “he said in a statement.
The fire marshal said the park’s last fire and safety inspection was June 29 and Harris County Health Department conducted health and safety inspections for commercial swimming pools in April.
Hidalgo said the park is supposed to have systems to track the pH level in the water and quickly alert crews. However, she reiterated that the city will ensure that this does not happen again.
“If you can have over 60 people sick and your system doesn’t catch it… then clearly something is wrong with the system,” she said.
ABC News’s Timmy Truong and Alyssa Pone contributed to this report.
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