Firefighters are battling to stop 1,000 litres of toxic liquid seeping into drains following a major leak at a refrigerator supplier earlier today.
Three employees from Birmingham-based Carter Retail Equipment and two police officers were taken to hospital for a check-up after coming into contact with the highly flammable and reactive chemical which seeped out of a storage tank.
The premises in the Hay Mills area of the city were evacuated and sealed off after the alarm was raised at 6.20am.
West Midlands Fire Service sent 75 firefighters, some in chemical suits, to the scene where sandbags were laid down to stop the isocyanate spreading.
Assistant Divisional Officer Dave Justice said: “We are trying to isolate that leak.
“We have put down sandbags around the drains to prevent any leakage and what we’re trying to do is contain it.”
Mr Justice added that investigators were attempting to establish the cause of the leak with the help of scientific advisers.
From The Scotsman