Department: Students found mercury in oil palm estate

Ops mercury: Fire and Rescue Department Hazmat team members conducting an operation to contain the mercury found at the oil palm plantation.

BUTTERWORTH: The mercury spill at a secondary school in Guar Perahu which led to 56 students being quarantined and 16 residents of six houses in Kampung Baru hospitalised is believed to have originated from a nearby oil palm plantation in Bukit Tok Alang here.

Tasek Gelugor Fire and Rescue Department station chief Muham-mad Hayazi Taib said several SMK Guar Perahu students had obtained the mercury from an abandoned water meter room in the plantation.