The management of Waterworld has hit out at the emergency services for ‘over-reacting’ after the attraction was evacuated on Wednesday 8th June.
Two people were taken to hospital, and over 100 people were evacuated from the site. Forty-six people were treated at the scene by paramedics.
But bosses at the Festival Park attraction said the incident was ‘blown all out of proportion’.
The emergency services noted that some people at the attraction reported ‘eye and throat irritation and nausea’ during their visit.
A spokesman for Waterworld said there was a ‘huge over-reaction’ to the incident, according to StokeonTrent Live.
Speaking shortly after the incident, he said:
“This has been completely blown out of proportion. The huge over-reaction from emergency services was incredibly distressing for our customers and our staff.
“We had received a small number of reports from customers about irritation to their eyes and throat, and were dealing with the situation.
“At no time was there any need for the emergency services to be called.
“Despite stringent tests from our in-house team, and the emergency services using their own specialist equipment, no harmful gases, liquids or other substances of any kind were found in the water, and air samples for chlorine gas levels came back as normal.
“We will be closing Waterworld tomorrow as a precautionary measure, however, to carry out further tests. The safety and comfort of our guests is always our number one priority.”
The incident saw Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service and the Air Ambulance all called to the scene on Wednesday afternoon.
One woman who visited Waterworld with her daughter when the venue reopened on Friday said they had to leave due to coughing fits and streaming eyes.
Hannah Britton told the BBC her daughter still had a sore throat and cough on Saturday.
She added she herself “also struggled with breathing at times” during the night.
Russell Goldman, whose son had gone to Waterworld on Friday with friends, told the BBC: “They all came out with very sore eyes, coughs and a bad chest.”
Raphael Berwitz, from Manchester, said his wife, their son and two of his friends also visited on Friday.
After a couple of hours, he explained, the boys reported feeling unwell, said they wanted to leave, and had “itchy eyes, burning throats and a cough”.
A doctor gave his son treatment the same evening but Mr Berwitz said that on Saturday he was “still coughing, leaving him in tears”.
He added: “One of his friends is still suffering with itchy eyes.”
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