The Serbian Environmental Protection Ministry said on December 26 that it is monitoring the situation near the site of a train derailment and ammonia leak that injured dozens of people and caused evacuations and the partial closure of a highway.
Four wagons of a 20-carriage train derailed on December 25 in southeastern Serbia on a section of the railway between Pirot and the village of Stanicenje that is part of the international route from Nis to Dimitrovgrad. The train was transporting toxic materials from neighboring Bulgaria, officials said.
Boban Stevanovic of the Department for Emergency Situations said that 56 people were evacuated on the night of December 25.
Evacuations also were carried out on sections of the highway and main road near the accident site, and parts of the highway were still closed to traffic early on December 26. A collision on the highway that apparently was caused by thick smoke injured several people.
All evacuees received medical care, and about 24 of them were hospitalized overnight. One person died after being admitted to the hospital, but it has not been confirmed that the cause of death was poisoning from the ammonia. The condition of the other patients was not life-threatening.
The train derailed in the evening, causing "the leakage (of ammonia) and the dispersion of a large amount of gas into the atmosphere," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Forensic police teams were at the scene on December 26, and a state of emergency remained in force in Pirot, a city with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Schools, kindergartens, and public institutions were closed in the city.
Minister of Construction and Infrastructure Goran Vesic told Serbian public broadcasting that there is no reason to panic, but people were advised not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary and to wear masks if they do.
Tests conducted on December 26 at several locations detected no ammonia in the air, and a nearby water source is not contaminated with ammonia, the Department for Emergency Situations said.
Vladan Vasic, the mayor of Pirot, said that the situation was under control, but experts will make recommendations on how to act in the future.
The Ministry of Construction has formed two commissions to investigate the derailment, Vesic said, adding that it was not the first derailment on that section of track.
Vesic said he did not know why a planned reconstruction of the railway from Nis to Dimitrovgrad had been delayed. The project is expected to begin by June 2023 at the latest, he said.