A rotting bag of nappies have been blamed for causing a major chemical scare which left six east London binmen hospitalised.
The Redbridge refuge workers were taken ill on Monday morning after a plastic bag they were handling split, releasing a flood of suspicious-smelling liquid, which raised fears of possible toxic poisoning.
Police and firefighters in special protection suits examined the scene in Elgin Road, Seven Kings, for several hours, after the men had been rushed to King George's Hospital, Ilford, for treatment.
A Redbridge Council spokesman said the scare was caused by fumes emanating from a bag of used nappies which had combined with a quantity of household chemicals.
She said: "It appears that ammonia from a bag of used nappies had mixed with some kind of chemical and caused this scare.
"Six staff were affected by the chemical incident, five from MRS who are our refuse contractor and one from the street cleansing section.
"After they were released from hospital, arrangements were made to collect all six staff from the hospital and they were returned back to the depot before being given the rest of the day off.
"Contingency arrangements were also made by MRS for a spare vehicle team to be introduced to collect refuse from the properties that were not affected by the incident."
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