French Lubrizol factory struggles to stop foul gas leak

Emergency workers are hoping to stop the leak on
 Tuesday

Staff at a chemicals factory in north-western France are working to stop a gas leak that has spread a foul smell to Paris and south-east England.

French Ecology Minister Delphine Batho said she was heading for Rouen, where the factory is located, to oversee operations to deal with the leak.

Thousands of people, from as far away as Paris and London, have complained of nausea and headaches.

The gas is mercaptan, an additive to natural gas said to be harmless.

It leaked on Monday from a plant run by a French subsidiary of the US chemicals manufacturer Lubrizol near Rouen, 75 miles (120km) north-west of Paris.

Winds blew the cloud over northern France on Monday night and then into England on Tuesday.


A Rouen resident told Reuters news agency the stench pervaded his home; "You can't ventilate. There is nothing to do, it's constantly in the room and it's unbearable."

Another resident told AFP news agency: "This is horrible. I thought I was in a gas cylinder." Another said the air smelled of "rotten eggs".

There is no word on the cause of the leak. The factory has been closed.

- BBC.co.uk