Mexico City.- Five people killed and 21 intoxicated is until now the balance of the overturning of a pipe carrying ammonia on the Highway Siglo XXI, at the height of the Caseta Felicino-Infiernillo, on the border between Guerrero and Michoacán, reported state authorities.
The accident occurred on Friday night, when the driver of a pipe carrying 80 thousand liters of ammonia, in two containers, lost control and crashed into a wall, causing one of its cylinders to detach and the chemical to escape , reported by the quadratín agency.
After the accident the driver fled the site, after bus passengers were trapped in the ammonia cloud, resulting in four deaths at the site and one more at a hospital in Michoacán, the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office reported.
“The multidisciplinary team went to a private nosocomio, where Daniel V., 27, died as a result of poisoning caused by inhalation of ammonia gases; on the spot, a 28-year-old woman, so far unidentified, also receives medical care for poisoning,” the unit said.
In addition, 21 people are hospitalized for poisoning.
Photo:Reform
Residents of the villages of El Pinzan and Infiernillo were evicted after the escape.
Care work continues until this Saturday morning, the Feliciano-Las Cañas track remains closed and authorities are asking the population to avoid the area due to a new formation of the gas cloud.
“Attention. Due to the maneuvers and removal of the truck carrying ammonia on the Highway Siglo XXI a new gas cloud has formed in the area. Motorists in Las Cañas and the community are asked to take extreme precautions. Cleaning work continues,” Michoacán Civil Protection reported via his Twitter account at 12:17 a.m.
The unit also indicated that care work is carried out with coordination from local and federal authorities.
