Burning barrels shoot into the air

MUSHROOM clouds of black smoke billowed over the village of Debe near San Fernando yesterday afternoon as fire raged for hours at a chemical site, causing villagers to evacuate their homes. Barrels containing chemical substances from the lab and storage facility at Cuchawan Trace exploded and shot some 100 feet into the air. The chemical fire blazed for at least six hours. Two years ago Special Branch officers visited the chemical lab and storage facility and seized specimens of substances as part of an investigation, following alleged claims by a group that it had the capability to produce biological and chemical weapons.