Tanker Crash Releases Ammonia Gas in Weatherford, OK

Hundreds of residents in Weatherford, Oklahoma, were evacuated and others ordered to shelter in place late Wednesday after a semitruck crashed in a hotel parking lot, releasing a plume of toxic anhydrous ammonia gas into the air, authorities reported Thursday.

The incident occurred around 10 p.m. in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express, located about 70 miles west of Oklahoma City in the city of roughly 12,000 people. Emergency Manager Mike Karlin said officials received a call about a possibly leaking tanker truck and, upon arrival, discovered the spill along with residents nearby showing signs of respiratory distress. At least 36 people were hospitalized for exposure to the gas, which can cause burns upon contact in liquid or gas form.

Weatherford Police Chief Angelo Orefice described the air in the affected area as too toxic to breathe without protection. Witnesses reported emergency responders in gas masks going door to door to alert residents. An emergency alert issued around 9:55 p.m. called for partial evacuation north to Davis Avenue and between Washington Avenue and Lyle Road, directing people to the Pioneer Cellular Center at Southwest Oklahoma State University...