GAS PANIC

Hundreds Flee After Gas Leak Causes 36 Hospitalizations

Huge quantities of poisonous gas flooded the air after a tanker crash in Oklahoma.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from Weatherford, Oklahoma, after a tanker truck leaked hazardous gas into the air from a hotel parking lot. Other people in the area were ordered to shelter in place after the leaking tanker truck released anhydrous ammonia, NBC News reported. People close to the scene suffered breathing problems, resulting in a total of 36 people being taken to hospitals in and around the area as authorities rushed to contain the leak. A lack of wind has slowed efforts to dissipate the gas, prompting the evacuation of several nursing homes and schools in the area. By Thursday morning, up to 600 people were taking refuge in a shelter, as authorities closed part of an I-40 exit into Weatherford as a precaution. Anhydrous ammonia is used as an industrial fertilizer and can cause burns to a person in both its gas and liquid forms. Weatherford, about 70 miles west of Oklahoma City, has about 12,000 residents.