Tourists in Spanish holiday hotspot ordered to stay indoors as fire at chemical plant releases toxic cloud into air

TOURISTS in a string of Spanish beach resorts were told to stay indoors today after a huge fire at a chemical plant sent a toxic chlorine cloud billowing over the area.

Holidaymakers in five popular towns near Barcelona were among 160,000 people ordered to shut their windows and stay inside as emergency services scrambled to contain the blaze.

AFP

Firefighters work on a site of a burnt building storing pool cleaning products, in the coastal city of Vilanova i la Geltru[/caption]

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Emergency service staff trying to contain the toxic fumes[/caption]

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Smoke billowing from the building on Saturday[/caption]

The fire broke out at around 2.30am local time at a factory storing 70 tons of swimming pool cleaning chemicals in the seaside town of Vilanova i la Geltru, just 25 miles south of the Catalan capital.

The blaze caused a massive chlorine smoke plume to spread across a wide area, triggering an emergency lockdown across Vilanova i la Geltru, Cubelles, Les Roquetes de Sant Pere de Ribes, Cunit and Calafell.

In a stark warning on social media, Spain’s Civil Protection service said: “If you are in the affected area, don’t leave your house or your place or work.

“An alert will be sent to mobile phones to inform people about the lockdown.”

They added: “Don’t travel to the affected areas.”

The drama caused widespread disruption, with trains halted, roads blocked and local events cancelled.

Civil Protection spokesperson Joan Ramon Cabello said the fire had now been brought under control.

But Catalan president Salvador Illa warned the stay-at-home order would remain in place until there was “no risk to the population”.

Mayor of Vilanova i la Geltru Juan Luis Ruiz said: “The priority right now is peoples’ safety and the rapid extinction of the fire.”

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AFP

Spanish authorities told more than 160,000 people near Barcelona to stay indoors[/caption]

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The building was left destroyed following the blaze[/caption]