Classes suspended at Dow University over toxic gas fears

KARACHI: Classes at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and Dow Medical College have been suspended over fears of toxic gas presence in the air, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Examinations scheduled to be held at the education institution on Wednesday (today) have also been postponed, a spokesperson of DUHS said today.

A strong smell of gas was being felt at Dow University for last two days, the university statement said.

The classes will resume as per routine from tomorrow, the spokesperson added.

The Dow University and Dow Medical College are located in southern district of Karachi at a few miles’ distance from the port area, which is reeling under a suspected gas leak that has thus far claimed at least 14 lives, according to a Sindh health department spokesperson.

The health official also said that more than 300 people, including women and children, have also been affected by a high level of toxicity in the air.

Moreover, the Global Environmental Labs (GEL) in its initial report claimed that the air in the port area of Kemari has registered an extraordinary hike in the amount of sulfur dioxide presence.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a pungent corrosive gas that arises predominantly from the burning of coal or crude oil in power plants and from factories that produce chemicals, paper, or fuel.

The lab revealed that the normal ranges of the chemical present in the air are around 120 per cent, which had been scaled up to a whopping 1420 per cent since the incident was first reported.