[06 FEB 01] CRIMES, FIRES & ACCIDENTS
Dozens Hurt In Chemical Spill

Ambulance crews and hospital staff from Warwickshire and the West Midlands have been called into action after dozens of people were injured in a chemical spill.

More than 50 people were hurt, 15 seriously, after a chemical spill on an industrial estate in Tamworth in Staffordshire this morning.

Some of the injured were taken to the George Eliot hospital in Nuneaton and crews from Warwickshire and West Midlands Ambulance Service were called in to help as the scene was declared a major incident.

Other hospitals throughout the area were put on red alert.

The injuries were caused by the leak of titanium tetrachloride from a tanker. The chemical turns to hazardous hydrogen chloride when in contact with the air.

Casualties were treated with drugs and oxygen by doctors at the scene before being transferred to hospital.