A police request for the arrest of the hotel manager after a pool maintenance incident saw 26 guests go to hospital, was thrown out of court on Tuesday.

Paphos district court earlier issued six-day remand orders for two employees at the hotel in Geroskipou – a 57-year-old supervisor and a 28-year-old worker, who was said to have acted on the supervisor’s instructions.

The police had requested the arrest of the hotel manager for illegally employing the 28-year-old foreign worker, whose duties did not match his terms of employment.

The court rejected the request.

According to the authorities, the worker poured a combined 10 litres of calcium hydrochloride and chlorine into the pool’s overflow channel, substances which cause a chemical reaction generating toxic fumes when mixed. It appears he was instructed to take action when sub-safety chlorine levels were initially detected.

Any pool treatments should occur before the pool opens, that is before 7am, or after patrons have left the pool at day’s end, a police spokesman told the Cyprus News Agency.

The hotel’s two staff members are under investigation for dangerous or negligent acts leading to bodily harm, while the employee who carried out the pool maintenance is also being investigated for performing work outside of his contracted duties as room attendant.

The incident, which occurred on Monday afternoon, resulted in 12 adults and 14 children being transferred by ambulance to Paphos general hospital.

Two children, who were kept in hospital as a precaution on Monday night after they were among those who had inhaled chlorine fumes, were due to be discharged within the day.

The noxious fumes generated can cause skin irritation or burns as well as respiratory problems, however, those present fortunately suffered mild symptoms which dissipated without serious complications.

Authorities took statements from the hotel guests and staff, as well as samples for lab testing.

The state health insurance organisation (Okypy), meanwhile, said the incident sparked an immediate activation of protocols for the exposure of people to chemical agents.

Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou, speaking on CyBC radio, commended the health service’s immediate and effective action, particularly as the incident occurred after hours.

He said the Paphos hospital has now been put on standby in readiness for further cases.

“The successful treatment of mass attendance of people at the [hospital’s emergency department] confirms the uniqueness of public hospitals and the important role they play in public health incidents,” the organisation said in an earlier statement.

“Public hospitals are the only ones that have the infrastructure, staff, equipment, know-how and expertise to deal with mass incidents, epidemics and mass disasters and we must keep them that way,” Okypy said.