More than 920 people suffered the effects of suffocation on Monday morning in the city of Desouk, in Kafr al-Sheikh Governorate, following a chlorine cylinder leak.
A hardware store's owner was unloading a cargo of 27 big cylinders when the cap of one came off, leading the toxic gas to leak and spread to nearby areas. Some citizens could not breathe, while others fled in panic.
Police and fire brigades arrived immediately. Ambulances were summoned from nearby hospitals.
Lamis al-Maadawi, head of Kafr al-Sheikh's health department, said some citizens received first aid at the scene, while others were treated in hospital. She said all those hospitalized were discharged the same morning.
Head of Desouk city council, Mahmoud Zaghloul, said Governor Ahmed Abdin ordered an immediate check on the store’s license and whether the store contains safety tools.
The store owner has been detained.
Meanwhile citizens dumped the cylinders in a nearby sewage ditch, fearing further leaks.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
