People suffer sore eyes and vomiting in hazardous material incident in Worthing
Written by News on 11/08/2019
The emergency services are dealing with an incident involving a hazardous material, with people vomiting and suffering from sore eyes.
Sussex Police says the investigation in Worthing is ongoing and they will release more information as soon as they are able to.
A number of people on Twitter said they were evacuated from the seafront in the Sussex resort, including around the pier.
People in the surrounding area have been told to shut their windows and doors.
Christine Johnston from the Kite, Surf and Sup Co. in Worthing told Sky News: “Two beach patrol guys on a buggy came by my surf shop. They had their faces covered and they told us to leave immediately.
“I hadn’t had any symptoms up until that point, but now I feel as though my eyes are itching – though that might be psychosomatic.
“The beach patrol guys wouldn’t comment on why they were asking us to leave. We stopped our lesson and packed up our kite, which took 20 minutes and then we said we’d meet our students at a cafe further east.
“It was quite bizarre and sounded really dramatic – we’ve cancelled all our lessons for the rest of the day.”
Police said the incident affected a “small number of people”.
The fire service says a cordon has been set up along a near 2.7km (1.6mile) stretch of Marine Parade and Brighton Road, the roads running parallel to the beach.
But at least three sources have told Sky News the road and pier are open and numerous other Twitter users have said there is no “lockdown”.
One Sussex Police officer has tweeted a picture of a cordon along New Parade.
A Worthing Fire Station tweet, just before 2pm, said: “Emergency services are currently responding to a hazardous material incident in Worthing.
“A cordon has been set up along the seafront between Grand Avenue and Windsor Road, and people are being advised to shut all windows and doors, or stay away from the area.”
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(c) Sky News 2019: People suffer sore eyes and vomiting in hazardous material incident in Worthing
