A 200-metre exclusion zone was set up around Lee Wharf number five on Newcastle harbour this morning.
Police believe that a barge’s mooring line became entangled with a pallet on the wharf, knocking over three oxygen and two acetylene cylinders – prompting an emergency situation.
Nearby buildings were evacuated, while 500 people were prevented from accessing their offices around Honeysuckle.
HAZMAT crews cleared the scene, by submerging the cylinders in water until the gas dispersed.
