As many as 160,000 people are under lockdown as a toxic chlorine cloud spreads over parts of Spain.
Authorities warned that a fire at an industrial property storing pool cleaning products has released the gas over a wide area south of Barcelona.
The incident happened in the coastal city of Vilanova i la Geltru, around 26 miles from the cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s Catalonia region.
Flames – likely caused by a lithium battery – took hold of the building at around 2.30am, the regional fire service said.
Spanish authorities sent a mobile message to the affected population and asked them not to leave their homes or workplaces while the toxic fumes dissipate.
‘If you are in the zone that is affected do not leave your home or your place of work,’ the Civil Protection service said on social media.
It is still unclear how long the lockdown will last as firefighters battle the flames.
The Department of the Interior of the Generalitat confirmed that another message will be sent to inform people that they can now go outside when the danger is over.
As the toxic cloud expands, the at-risk area is stretches across at least five municipalities from Vilanova i la Geltru to the village of Calafell, near the city of Tarragona.
‘No casualties’ had been reported, the fire service said on X, adding that a large number of units deployed to the scene had brought the flames under control.
It said it is ‘monitoring the column (of gas) caused by the fire for changes and for its toxic levels’.
Owner of the industrial property, Jorge Vinuales Alonso, told local radio station Rac1: ‘It is very difficult for chlorine to catch fire but when it does so it is very hard to put it out.’
Trains which were due to pass through the area were held up, roads were blocked and other events were cancelled.
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