More than 60 staff and customers were treated by paramedics after breathing in gas from a leaking refrigerator at two major supermarket stores.
Hundreds were evacuated from the Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer stores at Hedge End, near Southampton, yesterday evening.
Four fire engines and 28 personnel attended the scene of the incident and the fire brigade said 62 people had been treated at the scene, with one taken to hospital. The gas is said to have come from a coolant leak in one of the refrigerator units inside Sainsbury’s.
An M&S spokesperson said: “We were advised by police to evacuate our Hedge End store following the detection of a gas leak in an adjacent store. The store has reopened this morning and is trading as usual.”
Richard Hillier, who was in the store at the time, told the BBC: “I was walking past one of the aisles and noticed a few people coughing. As I walked past them I began coughing and haven’t stopped.
“Basically, it feels like a frog in the throat that can’t be cleared. Just a strange experience, I’ll consult the local GP tomorrow if symptoms remain.”
The incident is the latest in a string of store evacuations caused by leaking gas from refrigeration systems. In June Tesco was forced to evacuate one of its “eco-friendly” naturally refrigerated stores in Newbury. The retailer had suffered other previous incidents, the most serious in December 2010 when several people suffered minor injuries after a pipe burst at a Tesco Extra near Salford.
