Fourteen students and two adults were hospitalised after the gas leak just before 9.30am on Tuesday at the St George State School on the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane.

Thirty-two people were treated on site after the leak was reported near the school office, Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor John Nolan said.

Crews from the nearby towns of Surat and Roma were called to help, he said.

Firefighters evacuated nearby classrooms and an administration building before the leak was traced to a faulty hot water connection.

“We’d also arranged for a medical team to attend from St George Hospital, which consisted of two doctors and four nurses,” he said.

“Of those patients assessed, 14 pediatric patients were transported to St George Hospital and two adults were transported to St George Hospital,” Mr Nolan said.

“All have very minor symptoms, which ranged from abdominal pain, nausea, mild respiratory symptoms and headaches.”