Several injured after refrigerant leak in central Zurich

Several people injured after refrigerant leak in the city of Zurich Keystone-SDA

A refrigerant leak led to a major emergency response on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse on Tuesday afternoon, leaving several people injured.

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Emergency services took four people to hospital. A further 12 were treated at the scene. The Coop City Annahof shopping centre was evacuated.

Shortly after 3pm, several people reported seeing white and black smoke coming from a building. An alert was also triggered by an alarm system, according to a statement from Schutz und Rettung Zürich on Tuesday evening.

Firefighters, ambulance crews and police responded in large numbers, evacuating around 300 people from the area. Public transport services nearby were suspended.

The four people taken to hospital reported dizziness and feeling unwell, a spokeswoman for Zurich Protection and Rescue told the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Inside the building, firefighters found that about 30kg of refrigerant had leaked from a refrigeration system. The unit was located in a sealed plant room.

Fire crews stopped the leak and declared the building safe after about two hours.

Translated from German by AI/sp

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