Sainsbury’s in Crosby evacuated after chemical leak

Nov 12 2009 by Nick Moreton, Liverpool Daily Post

Sainsbury’s in Crosby evacuated after chemical leak

A MERSEYSIDE supermarket was evacuated after a chemical leak from an industrial fridge.

Crews from five fire engines helped with the “precautionary” evacuation at Sainsbury’s, in Liverpool Road, Crosby, just after 2pm yesterday.

It is not known what the chemical was, but it appears to have been toxic and possibly airborne as firefighters used protective breathing apparatus to search for and attempt to isolate the leak.

A 43-year-old woman was taken to Fazakerley hospital by ambulance for precautionary checks.

Crews from Crosby, Bootle and Netherton, Kirkdale and Bromborough attended the emergency call out.

A worker at Sainsbury’s said the shop was due to reopen at 8am today.

She added: “There was a gas leak and we had to evacuate the store.

“I do not know how many people had to be evacuated, but no one was hurt as far as I know.

“We just had to evacuate very quickly, and we will not be opening to the public again today.”

Jay Pimbley, who works at nearby Catherine Caddick’s Jewellers, said: “I saw a couple of ambulances, and someone said there were four fire engines – we do not really know what has happened there though.”

SUPERMARKET EXPANSION PLANS: BUSINESS: PAGE 20