Second severe air pollution alert in Serbian town

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2006

BELGRADE (AFP) — Dangerous gases that may have leaked from an ageing petrochemical plant in a Serbian town near Belgrade has triggered an alert overnight, the second such incident in little over a month. Concentrations of benzene in the air in Pancevo reached 117 micrograms per cubic meter around 11:00 pm (2200 GMT), more than 11 times the safety limit and only three micrograms shy of the threshold for mandatory evacuation, according to Radio B92 on Friday.

Sulphur dioxide levels were measured at 56 micrograms per cubic meter, five and a half times above the safety norm. Municipal officials in Pancevo sounded a general alarm at 11:30 pm, but told residents of the town, which is 15 kilometers (nine miles) northwest of Belgrade, to remain inside their homes. The alert was...