Over 850 people suffered chlorine poisoning after the toxic gas leaked from a cistern in a shop on the outskirts of Disuk in northern Egypt, national internet portal Masrawy reported on Monday.
The victims noticed a strong smell of a gas and immediately started suffocating.
All the victims have been taken to hospital and local rescuers are working at the scene of the leak.
The local Prosecutor General's office has launched a criminal case against the shop-owner.
Chorine is a toxic suffocating gas, which causes burns of the lung tissue and asphyxia when breathed.
Cairo, May 30 (RIA Novosti)
