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Police called 500 times after town engulfed by vile 'rotten-egg' stench

Locals swamped emergency services with calls after a vile smell stank out an American suburb following a nearby chemical spill

[Asian woman wearing mask for prevent dust pm 2.5 bad air pollution and coronavirus or covid-19 have a cough, fever. Girl wears mask due to bad smell and prevent virus infection from people in subway.]

The smell was caused by a chemical leak(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Locals have been left covering their noses and desperately dialling 911 in droves after a disgusting, 'rotten egg' stench engulfed two US towns.

More than 500 residents living across the suburb of Frankfort, Illinois, phoned the emergency services to report a vile stink. Firefighter crews were dispatched across the area to deal with the unfortunate reek, which locals described as a 'strong . . . gas smell'.

The smell has been linked to a potential chemical spill in the village of University Park, although the stink was also reported in several nearby towns. On local Facebook pages, residents were quick to point out the stench, with one user admitting they thought the smell might be coming from them.

[reporter talking about smell]

The bad smell was initially a mystery, although it has now been explained(Image: FOX 32)

The user wrote: "Ok I thought I was going crazy, I smelled it as soon as I walked out of my house in Orland, had the neighbour come check, then went to [a nearby bar] and still smelled it, I thought the smell was following me lol"

Another user added they had also been "wondering why I was smelling gas outside."

Several locals admitted to worrying the smell had come from on their properties, with one writing "I smelled it and thought Gas was in in my home".

[news programme]

Over 500 people called the emergency services(Image: FOX 32)

One commentor explained that they and their neighbour had called 911 after smelling the substance.

They wrote: "I came home from work and my neighbour came over we were smiling vas very strong! She called the gas company and that person said they will send out a crew in about 1/2 hour to an hour."

The eggy smell has been linked to an accidental release of a chemical called mercaptan, which is used added to dangerous, odourless gasses in order to give them a noticeable smell.

[asian woman is suffering from bad stinky smell in air at home]

The smell caused hundreds to take to social media to complain(Image: Getty Images)

The smell of mercaptan is often compared to rotten eggs or cabbage, and it is often a tell-tale sign of a dangerous gas leak, despite the substance itself being harmless to humans.

According to US gas distributor Nicor Gas, the released chemical is not dangerous, although the company have said they will be investigating all 500 phone calls to double check there is not a gas leak at the property anyway according to reports.

They have not ordered any evacuations. It is not known yet how the gas leak occurred.

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