Probe after workers 'suffer lung burns from vapour cloud'

TWO EMPLOYEES TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER INCIDENT 'INVOLVING CAUSTIC SODA'

- By LIAM THORP

AN investigation has been launched after two workers at a famous Merseyside industrial site were hospitalised after a vapour cloud was unexpectedly released while they were unloading items from a delivery.

Sources suggest the two men suffered burns to their throats after inhaling the chemical.

The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed to the ECHO it has been notified about the incident at Unilever's factory in Port Sunlight in Wirral on September 3. The government agency is now investigating the circumstances of what happened.

Sources informed the ECHO of the incident, suggesting it came about because of the release of caustic soda on the site - which is used for a range of industrial uses. The two injured employees are said to have inhaled the substance and burned their lungs, with the source suggesting the two men remain off work.