Investigations led to the discovery of a chemical waste containing methyl alcohol near a stream nearby.
Resident Rubaiyah Mat Sam, 70, said she started to smell the strong unpleasant odour yesterday afternoon and experienced dizziness.
“I tried to find the source of the smell around my house but I did not find anything amiss.
“My daughter-in-law and I felt dizzy and took a paracetamol tablet,” she said when met by reporters at the Kampung Sinaran Baru community hall, Seelong, early this morning.
Rubaiyah, who lives with her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, said fire personnel came to her house at 10pm and informed her that the smell was probably caused by a chemical spill at a nearby area.
She said the fire personnel then ordered her to vacate her house and move to the community hall temporarily.
Another resident, Hafiz Badrul Hisham, 37, said the smell permeated his house at 8.30pm.
“As the smell got stronger, I tried to locate the source but I then experienced shortness of breath,” he said when met at Kampung Baru Sri Aman.
Hafiz said he was also told by a neighbour that a woman had started to cough before collapsing due to inhalation of a strong chemical odour.
Puteri Wangsa assemblyman Mazlan Bujang said the residents were relocated to the community hall, about 1km away, as the smell was still strong.
“They were ordered to evacuate for their own safety. We have provided them food supplies and necessities,” he said when met at the village last night.
In the 10pm incident, two women were treated for breathing difficulties while a group of residents of Kampung Baru Sri Aman vacated their homes after inhaling the strong chemical odour.
Johor Hazardous Materials and Waste Management (Hazmat) Unit chief fire senior assistant superintendent Saiful Bahri Safar said their studies on water from a stream nearby found there had been a spill of a solid-liquid in the area.
He said the spill was believed to contain methyl alcohol, a type of scheduled waste, with a concentration of 120 parts per million.