Chlorine leak causes chaos in Scarborough
FUMES from two leaking chlorine tanks caused panic in downtown Scarborough yesterday evening, as a combined police and fire service team had to be deployed to redirect traffic and evacuate persons from the area. According to reports, Organisation of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) officials received information about a leak in the Sangster’s Hill area at 4.35 pm and immediately ordered the evacuation of employees and other persons from the area. Unconfirmed reports are that two persons had to be taken to hospital for treatment as a result of the leak. Officials believe the two tanks had been left unattended over a long period of time as the contents of one of the tanks had completely leaked out. Firefighters on the scene were able to unearth one of the tanks, but up to press time they were still trying to recover the other and neutralise the area. ODPM had warned that chlorine was approximately four times heavier than oxygen and, in its concentration in the Sangsters Hill area, was considered hazardous. Persons were asked to stay 50 to 100 metres away from Sangster’s Hill junction. Up to press time, officials of WASA and ODPM were on the scene trying to bring the situation under control.
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"Chlorine leak causes chaos in Scarborough"