A chlorine leak was blamed for sickening 24 kids who were swimming in a northeast Bexar County homeowners association swimming pool Tuesday night.
Two of the kids were transported to Northeast Baptist Hospital for observation, although their injuries were not considered serious. The rest of the children were treated at the scene and released.
"During one of the breaks, everyone was coughing," said Kyle Urias, who was swimming in the Ventura Homeowners Association swimming pool in the 7000 block of Elm Trail when the leak occurred. "There was a girl who got real sick. Everybody was coughing."
Urias said he had a headache but thought nothing of it until one of his friends started vomiting.
Swimmers were complaining of sore throats, itchy eyes and difficulty breathing.
Converse Fire Department officials said they suspect some chlorine leaked out of a pump after a pool employee didn't follow proper procedures.
"Apparently, one of the employees went to open up a skimmer, and when she did that, some water with a heavy amount of chlorine in it escaped out of the pump system," said Converse Fire Department Chief Gene Baldwin.
Firefighters were able to stop the leak by diluting chlorine with water.
A pool contractor at the scene said the pool should be ready for swimmers on Wednesday morning.
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