16,000 people tested after rail chemical blaze

A train derailment that ignited tankers loaded with yellow phosphorous has prompted health authorities in Ukraine to check 16,000 people for symptoms of chemical poisoning.

Doctors examined thousands of emergency workers and residents in the Lviv region, where the accident occurred, said health minister Yuriy Haydaev. More than 160 people remained in hospital today, including 34 children.

Haydaev said not all of those sent to hospitals had serious symptoms. “We admitted all children who felt discomfort in their eyes or throats, at their parents’ insistence, but this does not mean they were poisoned,” he said.

There were no reported deaths.

The accident occurred on Monday when a freight train derailed outside Lviv, near the Polish border, overturning 15 of its 58 carriages.

Six tankers containing yellow phosphorus caught fire, sending noxious fumes over 35 square miles of western Ukraine.

Transport Minister Mykola Rudkovsky said pressure valves were broken on the ageing tankers, which should have been decommissioned five years ago. He said Ukraine has suspended rail shipments of yellow phosphorus.

Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Ihor Krol said the incident was under control and there was no health threat, denying rumours that toxic smoke was drifting toward other regions of Ukraine.

President Viktor Yushchenko has criticised the government of his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, over its response to the accident, suggesting officials deliberately understated the health threat.

Phosphorus compounds are used chiefly in fertilisers, although they are important components of pesticides, toothpaste and detergents, as well as explosives and fireworks.

The chemical blaze and health threat sent shock waves through Ukraine, where many still remember the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown and explosion.