Chlorine heist plan poisons 15

FIFTEEN people were rushed to hospital yesterday after suffering chlorine poisoning. Miraculously, none of those affected was seriously harmed.

The freak incident happened shortly after noon at a compound housing Roma along the Limassol-Platres highway. Apparently a group of people were busy trying to dismantle a couple of chlorine cylinders they had got hold of, with a view to selling the parts.

But things went awry when chlorine from one of the cylinders – believed to be empty – leaked out into the air. Strong winds then spread the noxious gas around the compound.

Around a dozen residents – including children – inhaled the gas and had to be treated at Limassol general hospital. Also affected were four police officers dispatched to the scene. A Fire Department unit arrived at the site to contain the situation.

Thankfully the affected persons suffered non-serious symptoms, such as breathlessness, stomach pains and vomiting. They were treated with oxygen and medicines, and their clothes cleaned of any traces of chlorine.

“They probably wanted to sell the copper metal from the cylinders to a metal scraps dealer,” a Limassol police officer told the Mail.

“Hopefully they’ve learned their lesson and they’ll be more careful next time round.”
??

??

??

??

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.