Telegraf in Pancevo, ammonia leaked from truck: Access to accident site banned, forensic experts arriving

A Telegraf.rs portal team has arrived in Pancevo, where ammonia leaked from a tanker truck late last night. The street seen behind our reporter is closed, and one can't even get to the Topola Rit settlement on foot, because the investigation is ongoing.

As we learned at the scene, ammonia is no longer leaking. Locals of Topola, the settlement close by, told us they did not smell the gas. As they have been told, it was not (pure) ammonia that leaked, but an ammonia mixture from the bottom of the tank.

Firefighters, police, and even forensic teams are arriving to the settlement of Topola Rit all the time.

The accident happened yesterday around 22:45.

According to initial information, one person was transferred to the Pancevo hospital for oxygen therapy, and residents of a dozen nearby houses were evacuated.

According to information that emerged later, 10 people with minor injuries were transported to the Pancevo General Hospital, two of whom are on oxygen.

As the hospital's director, Slobodan Ovuka, told our portal, none of the patients were kept in the hospital for treatment, and several were showing symptoms of panic, which is why they were put on oxygen.

He added that no one had a real need for medical intervention.

He also stressed that the ten patients admitted to the hospital have since been sent home.

The first ammonia spill that upset Serbia happened on December 25 on the railway near Pirot, in the south. Two deaths occurred then, caused by ammonia poisoning.

The next accident on the railway happened near Zajecar in the east, four days later, on December 29. The tanker was carrying phosphoric acid, but there was no spill.

Prosecutor's Office investigating ammonia leak in Pancevo

The on-duty deputy in the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Pancevo, northeast of Belgrade, is conducting an investigation at the premises of the Saga factory, where ammonia leaked from a tank, as a result of which about 10 people were reported to have suffered poisoning.

(Telegraf.rs)