Mystery gas kills men, fish

Press, 17 April 1978, Page 9

Mystery gas kills men, fish

NZPA Montevideo, (Uruguay) The picturesque Brazilian border town of Hermenegildo has been left without a single resident as thousands fled a mysterious gas from the sea believed responsible for the deaths of two people and millions of fish.

The Brazilian police said that two rural labourers who arrived at a hospital with badly inflamed lungs apparently died as a result of the gas, which has rolled in from the sea for several days. Scientists from both Brazil and Uruguay are studying the origins and characteristics of the gas, which has affected about 600kms of the Atlantic coasts of both nations.

Several days ago, millions of dead fish and shellfish began floating on to beaches from the Atlantic Ocean. Authorities also said people residing in the coastal area have reported coughs and sore throats.

After a storm swept in from the sea, several dogs, horses and a large number of wild animals died within a matter of hours. Policemen wearing gas masks are patrolling the deserted town, whose population during the summer swells to 15,000 with tourists attracted to nearby beaches. On theory advanced by scientists is that the gas has been generated by a plankton, a microscopic form of life floating in the sea that gives off an acid as it reproduces, killing sea life.