London Aquatics Centre: 29 people in hospital following 'major' incident

Almost 30 people have been taken to hospital following a "major" chemical incident at the London Aquatics Centre this morning.

The London Fire Brigade confirmed the incident - during which around 200 people were evacuated - saw "a high quantity of chlorine gas" released due to a chemical reaction.

It's thought that the release happened following the delivery of pool chemicals.

Firefighters were called to attend at 9.45am today - March 23 - and were joined at the scene by the Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance Service (LAS).

Originally reported to be treating a "number of casualties", the LAS has since confirmed it took 29 patients to hospital and assessed a further 48 at the scene.

Darren Farmer, LAS gold commander, said: "We sent a significant number of resources including 13 ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, two medics in fast response cars, two incident response officers, a medical incident advisor and members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART).

“We also dispatched medics from London’s Air Ambulance."

The commander added that the "majority" of those affected were reporting "minor breathing difficulties".

It is not yet clear when the Aquatics Centre will reopen.