At least 78 sickened by gas release in St. Petersburg stores - Russia

[DoYouEverWonder]

26 December 2005

At least 78 people have been sickened by the release of unidentified gas in several stores in St. Petersburg, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.

Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said the four stores affected belonged to the Maksidom chain. Further details were not immediately available.

At least 78 people have been sickened by the release of unidentified gas in several stores in St. Petersburg, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.

Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said the four stores affected belonged to the Maksidom chain. Further details were not immediately available.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article335135.ece

[Orsino]

1. Sorry. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

2. more info

from the article:

Stepchenko said the gas was preliminarily determined to be methyl mercaptan. The U.S. Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says methyl mercaptan is a gas smelling like rotten cabbage that is both naturally occurring and manufactured for use in plastics and pesticides.

The agency's Web site said little is known about the gas's potential health effects. One person exposed to very high concentrations of the gas went into a coma and died, the Web site says.

Stepchenko said that a custodian at a branch of the Maksidom home-supplies chain found a suspicious box before the store's opening and when she opened the box, she found ampoules attached to wires and a timer. The woman inadvertently broke one of the ampoules and noticed a repulsive smell, but apparently was not sickened, he said.

[Ian David]

3. Possible this was meant to be non-lethal? n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. No, they just got lucky

someone stubled upon the 'package' before it went off.

[daleo]

7. Here is a little on the substance

"How can methyl mercaptan affect my health?

Very little is known about the health effects of methyl mercaptan. The only information available is about a worker exposed to very high levels of this compound when he opened and emptied tanks of this compound. He developed anemia, went into a coma, and died about a month later.

We do not know whether long-term exposure to low levels of methyl mercaptan can result in harmful health effects."

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts139.html

I recall the name, and recall that it is a substance that is quite horrible smelling.

[seriousstan]

5. Gas capsules with timers found in Russian stores

SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) - Gas capsules with timers attached were found in stores in Saint Petersburg, the Russian city where dozens of people fell ill after inhaling an unknown gas that spread through a store, officials said.

"The devices that were discovered consisted of capsules of gas with a strong garlicky smell. Clocks set to the current time were attached," a spokesman for the Federal Security Service in Saint Petersburg told AFP on Monday.

Only in one of the three stores, all belonging to the Maksidom chain, did a capsule release gas, officials said. Dozens of people felt sick after inhaling the substance, with 16 hospitalised.
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?id=2005122609357000000001&dt=20051226093500&w=AFP&coview=

[uppityperson]

6. Odd, swamp gas pellets to stop people from shopping?