BRUSSELS: The EU’s new summit building was evacuated for the second time in a week on Wednesday after chemical fumes made people ill, on the eve of a meeting of European leaders.
Officials said the summit of 28 EU leaders focusing on Brexit negotiations will still go ahead as planned despite the incident at the €320-billon (Dh1,175 billion) Europa Building, dubbed the ‘Space Egg’ because of its futuristic appearance.
“Despite checks and precautions, a further technical incident occurred today in one of the Europa building kitchens,” the European Council said in a statement.
“The technical issue affecting the ventilation in the kitchens of the Europa building, producing noxious fumes in the kitchens, has led to a number of staff falling ill.”
It added: “This incident will not prevent the meeting of the European Council (19-20 October) from going ahead.”
Catering for the summit of 28 European leaders is likely to be moved to the next door Justus Lipsius building, where summits were held until the Europa building opened earlier this year, a European Council spokesman told AFP.
Twenty people were taken ill and nine people were hospitalised in a similar incident on Friday, which happened because of a “chemical reaction between two industrial cleaning products”.
