What happened

On Tuesday evening, 20 October, police in Wangels (Kreis Ostholstein) were told that about 20 to 30 children in the adventure pool at the Weissenhäuser Strand holiday park had breathing problems. Rescue services then found 123 visitors with complaints at the pool, among them adults and children, and examined them. Two of them were taken to hospital. The police gave this update on Wednesday, 21 October.

Checks in the water and air

Firefighters tested the water with measuring devices and found no elevated values. The air quality in the pool area was also measured, and no deviating values were recorded. David Depenau, managing director of the operating company, told the Lübecker Nachrichten that these measurements showed nothing abnormal. The fire service's hazardous materials unit also checked whether too many chloramines had formed in the water, a compound of chlorine and ammonia that irritates the eyes, skin and airways. That suspicion was not confirmed, and the firefighters also looked into a possible chlorine gas cause without finding anything.

Cause still unknown

Police said it is not yet known how the complaints came about. Neither the water nor the air tests produced an explanation. NDR also reported that no reason for the complaints could be found. NDR described the start of the operation as Wednesday evening, while dpa and the police put the first reports on Tuesday evening.

Traffic and reopening

Access to the village via Seestraße was temporarily closed to car traffic during the rescue operation, according to the Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag. NDR reported that the subtropical adventure pool has since reopened as normal. No further complaints or follow-up measurements have been reported in the articles available so far.