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Toxic Fumes Keep EU Summit Venue Shut for Another Week


The Europa Building, also known as 'The Egg' (L), was evacuated after toxic fumes leaked from kitchen drains, forcing the EU to switch the venue of its summit less than 24 hours before the meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 18, 2017.
The Europa Building, also known as 'The Egg' (L), was evacuated after toxic fumes leaked from kitchen drains, forcing the EU to switch the venue of its summit less than 24 hours before the meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 18, 2017.

The building that houses EU summits, where toxic fumes forced EU leaders to switch venues last week, will be closed for a further week as investigators
seek to resolve the problem.

The fumes leaking from the drains have forced the Europa Building, also known as "The Egg," to be evacuated twice this month, including before a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.

The new building was opened in January amid controversy over its 321-million-euro ($378 million) price tag.

Staff and meetings will be temporarily transferred to the next door Justus Lipsius building until the issue is resolved.

About 20 catering staff had to go to hospital on October 13 and an unspecified number on Wednesday. An EU official said the Council and Belgian health and safety agencies believe the two incidents were due to the same source.

Reporting by Lily Cusack; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Toby Chopra.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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