Cleaner overcome by chemical cocktail (From News Shopper)

Cleaner overcome by chemical cocktail

9:47am Saturday 26th April 2008 in

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CHEMICAL fumes overcame a man while he cleaned a bath in a Penge flat last night.

The man was taken to hospital by ambulance, and residents were evacuated from the block of flats in Anerley Road, while firefighters dealt with the chemical spillage.

It is thought the man was a council employee - called to the ground-floor flat to fix a blocked bath drainage pipe.

He was using chemical cleaners and accidentally mixed a cleaning product - containing sulphuric acid - with a drain cleaner.

The cocktail of chemicals produced a noxious gas that caused the man to pass out.

Fire crews from Beckenham and a specialist chemical team from Lambeth were called to the flat at 10.45pm.

Ten people had to be evacuated from their homes while experts used soda ash to neutralise the toxic compound.

Council staff were also called out to look after the residents while they waited to find out if they would be able to return to their homes.

By 1.30am the spill had been cleaned and the residents were allowed back into the building.

Anerley Road was closed from 10.45pm until 1.30am because of the incident.