CHENNAI: At least 26 school students fainted, allegedly due to gas leak, at a private school in Tiruvottiyur on Friday.

Reports said the fumes triggered panic among officials and students of the school located on Village Street in Tiruvottiyur, and people in the neighbourhood, and the children were immediately removed to safety.

Some of the students at the Victory Matric Higher Secondary School had fainted and the school was evacuated immediately.

The source of the gas leak is unclear but it is expected to have been from a chemical factory nearby. The number of affected children are expected to go up.

Hearing about it, parents rushed to the school to pick up their children, resulting in a large crowd gathering outside the school and chaos in the whole neighbourhood.

The authorities are investigating the source of the gas leak.