Several small containers of potentially hazardous chemicals, originating from an Iraqi chemical facility, have been found in a UN building but posed no immediate risk, a UN spokesperson said at the United Nations.
The material has been identified as phosgene, a chemical weapon widely used in World War I.
The discovery of the packages containing the vials was made on 24th August while officials of the United Nations Monitoring and Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), whose work is being winded down, were archiving documents and materials at the office, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe said.
An joint FBI and police team on Thursday evacuated the staff and other tenants of the building, which is near the UN headquarters, and removed the packages for disposal, officials said.
An initial probe revealed that the packages were recovered in 1996 from Al Muthanna, a former Iraqi chemical weapons facility, by inspectors with the UN Special Commission, a predecessor of the UNMOVIC.
On Wednesday, the relevant inspection report was found, and it contained an inventory of items recovered that shows one of the items contained phosgene suspended in oil.
Phosgene in both its gaseous and liquid forms can be potentially life-threatening, causing the lungs to collapse and damaging the eyes, nose, throat and skin.
Okabe said investigations would soon begin on how the "potentially hazardous" material came to be at the commission headquarters, while stressing that there was no immediate risk or danger to the public. - DDNEWS
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