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SIPA USA/PA Images

20 people taken ill due to noxious fumes at venue for next week's EU leaders summit

A spokesperson for the emergency services said there was “a bad mix of chemical products on the kitchen level”.

TWENTY PEOPLE WERE taken ill due to noxious fumes in the kitchens of the EU’s new Europa building in Brussels today, but officials insisted a summit of the bloc’s leaders at the venue next week will go ahead as planned.

The €321 million headquarters of the European Council were evacuated and ambulances rushed to the building, dubbed the “Space Egg” because of its futuristic oval interior shape.

“There was a bad mix of chemical products on the kitchen level. That caused fumes,” Pierre Meys, a spokesman for Brussels emergency services, told AFP. He said the symptoms included “sore eyes and vomiting”.

A European Council spokesman told AFP that 20 people were taken ill. Nine people were hospitalised and five were later released.

“We continue to monitor closely the medical condition of the four contractual staff who remain under observation in hospital,” the council said in a statement.

Toxic mix

The EU said that emergency services had “determined that the problem was caused by a chemical reaction between two industrial cleaning products” in the kitchen ventilator system.

“We expect to re-open the Europa building on Monday. Meetings will resume as scheduled and our plans for next week’s European Council meeting remain unchanged,” the statement said.

The summit of 28 European Union leaders, which will have Brexit and the future of Europe on the menu, is scheduled for 19 and 20 October.

Staff from the Europa building were evacuated to the neighbouring Justus Lipsius building “applying the principle of safety first”, the council added.

Meys said ambulances were deployed as part of an “emergency medical plan” created by local authorities for any incident involving more than 10 people.

The Europa building opened in January after a series of delays.

It was commissioned in 2004 with a projected cost of €240 million but ended up costing €321 million in what officials said was a “small over-run”.

Designed by Belgian architect Philippe Samyn, it features a curved glass lantern-shaped structure inside a giant cube made of 3,750 recycled window frames sourced from across the 28-nation bloc.

- © AFP 2017.

Read: EU chief negotiator: Brexit talks at ‘disturbing’ deadlock>

Read: Talk about ‘telepathic’ borders and ‘getting dogs ready’ as Varadkar and Martin clash on Brexit>

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    Mute Liam Lyons
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    Oct 13th 2017, 7:39 PM

    Phil Hogan was on the Guinness again!

    37
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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Oct 14th 2017, 12:05 AM

    @Liam Lyons: which one of them??

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    Mute Paul Fahey
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    Oct 13th 2017, 7:31 PM

    Juncker alcohol order arriving early?

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    Mute JimmyMc
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    Oct 13th 2017, 7:44 PM

    @Paul Fahey: there will be a much more lethal toxic mix in there next week

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Oct 14th 2017, 12:05 AM

    @Paul Fahey: Jean Paul Drunker farted?

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Oct 13th 2017, 7:49 PM

    “There was a bad mix of chemical products on the kitchen level. That caused fumes,”
    Most of us would refer to that as bullshite……..

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    Mute Barry morcom
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    Oct 13th 2017, 7:31 PM

    must be the smell of bull sh$t…

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    Mute john g mcgrath
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    Oct 13th 2017, 8:04 PM

    There has always been a bad bad smell but perhaps we are only smelling it now !!!

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    Mute Davidd Heneghad
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    Oct 13th 2017, 7:34 PM

    Fumes from the shite talk of the EU leaders perhaps

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    Mute GetTFuYouBasa
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    Oct 13th 2017, 8:26 PM

    Are these the same obnoxious fumes that were also in Belfast today?

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    Mute Ken Loughman
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    Oct 13th 2017, 9:19 PM

    Probably some form of British cuisine…

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Oct 14th 2017, 12:06 AM

    @Ken Loughman: British cuisine is excellent compared to that EU guano

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    Mute nick mullen
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    Oct 14th 2017, 12:50 AM

    I hope those poor VIP’s are well compensated God bless em

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    Mute Peter Hargan
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    Oct 14th 2017, 3:16 AM

    Drat,foiled again Muttley

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