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Children at a daycare in the US were taken to hospital after being "inadvertently exposed" to hazardous material. First responders including police officers, firefighters and paramedics were called to the Bright Horizons day care centre in Wellesley, Massachusetts on Friday.

State hazmat technicians were also called to the scene to assist the Wellesley Fire Department and find the culprit behind the incident, the State Fire Marshal's Office said. An ambulance and several police and fire vehicles are seen outside the building in photos from the scene, while aerial shots show numerous ambulances in the parking lot. Wellesley Police said in a post on X around 12:45pm that "several children were inadvertently exposed to a commercial-grade dish cleaner." The children were evaluated by rescue crews, and 11 were taken to hospital.

The fire department received a call at 11.15am, reporting several children had a rash, with 12 of the 40 children at the daycare affected.

They are still investigating which irritant caused the rash, but the fire department thinks it may be connected to the soap dispensers.

Wellesley Fire Chief Steve Mortarelli said: "We haven't exactly pinpointed what the irritant is, but we think it may have something to do with the soap dispenser possibly. It's not airborne or anything like that."

He also explained that fire crews had originally arrived to the daycare centre to treat just one child. He said: "On response we were evaluating, when several other children came up with a very similar issue. Eleven of the children have been transported to area hospitals, and all minor superficial rashes."

Bright Horizons said in an email this afternoon that they are trying to figure out what happened. When children and staff presented with a rash, staff immediately took action and called emergency services.

The statement said: "The children and staff received medical attention on-site and some have been transported to local hospitals for further evaluation.

"We are working with our janitorial vendor to understand if they may have used the wrong product in the hand-washing centers. We remain in close communication with families at the center while we try to determine a cause for what happened.

"We are grateful for the quick response by the emergency responders. The safety and well-being of the children in our care remain our highest priority."