At least 51 people were poisoned on Sunday evening in the Pirot region of southeastern Serbia after ammonia leaked from a tank car after a train derailed, police said, the mayor of that city said. “There were 51 cases of poisoning. Seven people were transported to (the hospital of) Nis, the nearest major city, Mayor of Pirot Vladan Vasic said at a press conference.
He added that a state of emergency had been declared “in parts of Pirot,” a town of around 60,000, which meant the closure of schools in particular. The train derailed in the early evening, causing “the release (of ammonia) and the spread of a large amount of gas into the atmosphere,” the Interior Ministry said in a press release.
security perimeter
The ministry asked residents of the region not to leave their homes. Traffic was halted on several streets. The train consisted of 20 tank cars carrying the toxic materials from neighboring Bulgaria, state rail freight company Srbija Kargo said.
The company said the train derailed “outside the city limits” and there were no casualties or injuries at the scene. According to the same source, a security perimeter of four kilometers has been set up as a precaution.