The injury toll from an invisible chlorine-gas cloud in the German city of Frankfurt has mounted to 70, officials said Saturday, but the two worst-hurt men were no longer in critical condition, reported DPA. Chlorine attacks the air passages and causes violent coughing. In all, 27 people had to be taken to hospital Friday. The two men, aged 35 and 40, were seriously hurt in the incident at a chemical trading company on an industrial estate. Hydrochloric acid was being pumped out of a truck. For reasons that are unclear, it was put into a tank containing hypochlorite, setting off a violent chemical reaction and the chlorine release. Staff managed to close a tap to block the pipe, but the gas injured people in a radius of 100 metres before diluting and drifting away.
