French people stunned because of rotten clouds

Stinking from a large cloud in the sky makes many people in northern France feel sick and headache.

Clouds appear in northern France on the evening of January 21 and arrive in southern England on the morning of January 22. Its stench makes people wake up. Thousands of people, from Normandy to Paris, call the emergency number to call for help. They describe the smell of the cloud like a drain or the smell of rotten eggs.

Rotten clouds escape from Lubrizol chemical factory in Normandy, France. (Photo: AFP)

Officials of the cloud are made up of mercaptan - a group of chemicals that smell rotten but harmless. It escaped from the Lubrizol chemical factory near the city of Rouen in northwestern France.

'Since the cloud does not cause any threat, we advise people in the affected areas not to call emergency services,' the French Ministry of Home Affairs announced.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said mercaptan - which exists in manure and certain types of cheese - can cause headaches and nausea. Some say they feel headache and nausea on January 22.

After crossing the English Channel, the cloud reaches Hastings - a British coastal city. City police recommend people take the necessary measures to combat the smell of rotten.

Workers in the Lubrizol chemical plant are working hard to stop mercaptan gas flow. Delphine Batho ecological minister has inspected the factory and declared the incident does not threaten people's health.

Le Parisien said, about 50 mercaptan gas leaks have occurred in France for 25 years.