Panic at the Coca-Cola plant

More than a thousand workers at a Tijuana industrial park had to be evacuated around 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, after a strong odor of gas in the area created panic among employees.

El Sol de Tijuana reported that fire chief Carlos Gopar Uribe later confirmed that the leak originated in a fissure of a gas tube at the Coca-Cola plant and that because of the wind, personnel at the contiguous Hyundai plant were also put at risk.

Both plants are located in the Parque Industrial El Florido, where more than 40 manufacturing businesses are located.

The leak was fixed in less than 30 minutes, El Sol reported, but not before hazardous waste experts from the city's civil protection agency were dispatched to ensure the workers were safe.

Officials at the Coca-Cola plant activated automatic sprinklers and ordered the evacuation of about 400 workers, according to El Sol.

More than 800 workers were evacuated from the Hyundai plant, the newspaper reported.

Both plants were able to return to normal operations little by little, the fire chief said.