50 affected in chemical leak from tanker

Wednesday 07 February 2001 01:00 GMT

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More than 50 people were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties after titanium tetrachloride leaked from a tanker at a factory in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

The gas turns to hazardous hydrogen chloride on contact with air. The leak was swiftly stabilised by emergency services but people in a neighbouring factory suffered chest constriction, nausea and coughing.

A fire officer said the amount of the leak was about 250ml, the size of a small carton of orange juice. It is used in the heat treatment of metals.

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50 affected in chemical leak from tanker

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