ABOUT 40 patients and staff were evacuated from a North- East hospital yesterday after an ammonia leak.
Ten millilitres of ammonia leaked from a fridge in a drugs room on a ward on the sixth floor of Sunderland Royal Hospital. Firefighters were called at about 4.50am.
The ward was evacuated, and the drugs room sealed and the fridge was disconnected by firefighters wearing gas-tight suits.
The ammonia was was placed in a protective drum and taken to a protective compound, where it was rinsed clean.
Firefighters spent 40 minutes clearing the ward of ammonia gas, caused by the leak, before patients were led back into the ward.
No one at the hospital was available for comment when contacted yesterday.
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