Toxic Gas Threat Ends; Evacuees Return
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BOGALUSA, La. — Businesses reopened Wednesday and 3,000 evacuees straggled home after crews halted a poisonous chemical leak that spewed from a ruptured railroad tank car for nearly two days.
The car exploded Monday at Gaylord Chemical Corp., releasing a cloud of corrosive nitrogen tetroxide. Crews neutralized the chemical Tuesday night with liquid soda ash. The chemical is used to produce dimethyl sulfoxide, a solvent used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals.
The fire chief and a Gaylord employee were in serious condition Wednesday. The remaining 500 people injured were treated and released shortly after the explosion, the cause of which has not been determined.
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