Communist Pesticide Contaminates Building Suicide Sparks Poison Scare
A man who committed suicide by pouring out highly toxic pesticide in his flat may have unwittingly poisoned 19 neighbors and emergency service workers as well, police said Tuesday.
The 48-year-old man used an old granulated phospate-based pesticide, manufactured in East Germany during the communist era for forestry purposes, to kill himself in his flat in a multi-story apartment block in the eastern town of Marienberg.
His body was found by relatives on Monday evening. Neighbors, police and emergency workers who breathed in the toxic fumes were taken to hospital and will be kept under observation for three days, police said.
Meanwhile specialists are decontaminating the apartment. It is not clear when the building will be safe for residents again.
cro/dpa/AP
