Protestors blame Serbian government for deadly pollution

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

BELGRADE (AFP) — Around 1,000 angry residents of a Serbian industrial town have staged a protest in Belgrade against government inaction after an alert caused by a gas cloud of cancer-causing pollution. The demonstration by residents of Pancevo, about 15 kilometres (10 miles) northeast of Belgrade, was organised by local media and supported by officials including the town's mayor, Srdjan Mikovic.

It followed an emergency sparked by a petrochemical complex's emissions of benzene and sulphur, which prompted authorities to take the unprecedented step of sounding public alarm sirens overnight Tuesday. Following the alert, which saw concentrations of the chemicals rise to more than 10 times the safety limit, the Serbian government said it was investigating the state-owned...