At least 51 people were poisoned on Sunday evening in the Pirot region, in the south-east of Serbia, after the leak of ammonia from a tank car following the derailment of a train, the mayor of this city told the press. “There were 51 cases of poisoning. Seven people were transported to (the hospital) of Nis”, nearest big city, said the maire by Pirot Vladan Vasic, at a press conference.
He added that a state of emergency had been declared “in part of Pirot”, a town of around 60,000 inhabitants, a measure which means in particular the closure of schools. The train derailed at the beginning of the evening, which caused “the leak (of ammonia) and the dispersion of a large quantity of gaz in the atmosphere,” said the interior ministry in a press release.
Security perimeter
The ministry called on residents of the area not to leave their homes. Traffic was interrupted on several roads. The train was made up of twenty tank cars transporting toxic materials from the Bulgaria neighbor, said the state-owned rail freight company, Srbija Kargo.
The company said the train derailed “outside the urban area” and that there were no casualties or injuries at the accident site. A security perimeter of four kilometers has been set up as a precaution, according to the same source.