The Public Health Ministry issued an urgent warning on Tuesday to workers at Chonburi province’s Laem Chabang deep seaport and adjacent people to use anti-pollution masks after chemicals caught fire at the port .
The ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, said a 9-tonne container containing toxic and corrosive chemicals caught fire
The container was stored on the ground to keep JWD Company’s dangerous cargo inside the compound of the Laem Chabang deep seaport in Tambon Thung Sukla, Si Racha district.
According to Opas, Chonburi public health inspector Suthep Phetmak informed him that the container contained 378 boxes of organic peroxides, which are acid compounds. Each crate was 18 kg in weight.
Although the fire was out, Opas said it left a strong odor in the large region surrounding the port.
According to Opas, 183 personnel were evacuated from the scene, with six of them suffering from breathing issues. After obtaining first-aid care, they were sent to a local private hospital.
Officials also tested 54 personnel at the control tower and 23 others at Toyota Motors Thailand’s parking lot, but no cases of breathing issues were found.
Officials were also dispatched to check on villages within a five-kilometer radius of the fire, but no one has become ill thus far.
Health officials warned residents to always wear masks when leaving their homes over the community’s public address system.
Local residents have been instructed to quickly notify leaders or health volunteers if they experience breathing issues so that they can be sent to the Laem Chabang Hospital.
