TAWAU: A labourer fainted while five others suffered breathing difficulties after they were exposed to a gas leak, believed to be chlorine, at a construction site at Pegagau Agriculture Wakuba on Wednesday.

Tawau fire station chief Jemishin Ujin said the victims, all foreign nationals aged between 19 and 43, were sent to Tawau Hospital.

He said the six workers comprised Indonesian national Jamal Umar, 30, and Filipinos Said Bading, 43; Aduk Jak, 28; Shahrul Nizam Raymond, 19; Milham Ibnu Hatta, 35; and Jai Azmi, 19. “One of them is in the red zone at the emergency unit, while the others are in the yellow zone,” he said when contacted yesterday.

He said a fire team was sent to the scene immediately after being informed of the incident which occurred around 11am.