Two people died of poisoning after an ammonia leak in Serbia, around forty others were affected. On Sunday December 25, a tank car derailed, releasing tons of toxic gas into the air in the Pirot region, in the south-east of the country.
The derailment of a wagon caused an ammonia leak on Sunday, December 25. An accident that killed two people and intoxicated 51 others, according to the mayor of the city in southeastern Serbia. ” Seven people were transported to [l’hôpital] from Nis “, the nearest big city, as affirmed by the mayor of Pirot Vladan Vasic.
The same day, a state of emergency was declared in a part of the city of 60,000 inhabitants, leading to the closure of schools. Authorities have called on residents of the area not to leave their homes and traffic has been halted on several roads.
The train was made up of 20 tank cars carrying toxic materials from neighboring Bulgaria, according to indications given by the public rail freight company, Srbija Kargo.
Serbian authorities denounced
Predrag Momcilovic is in charge of environmental issues within the Green Party “ Don’t let Belgrade down » (« Don’t let Belgrade drown “, in French). He points the finger at the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior in this disaster, which occurred on a section of railway which he denounces as dilapidated and too poorly maintained.
” For decades, no investment has been made on this railway line and this is not the first time that a derailment has occurred. But this time it caused dangerous gas leaks “, he points out.
For him, this is a serious problem as the Serbian government has already adopted a measure to invest in this railway. ” Nothing has changed, for more than three years alreadyhe continues. Most of the time, with this kind of accident in Serbia, there are no politicians. They’ll probably blame the railroad workers or someone else. For us, it is really important that the department recognizes its responsibility. »
A project to build a high-speed railway line, linking Budapest to Belgrade, is underway in the region. The Ministry of the Interior has already formed two commissions to investigate this derailment.
(And with AFP)