It could possibly be the opening scene from a brand new Marvel movie. Residents of a Japanese metropolis have been warned to not strategy or contact a lacking cat that seems to have fallen right into a vat of poisonous chemical substances earlier than scampering off.
The seek for the unfortunate feline started after an worker of a metallic plating plant in Fukuyama, western Japan, arrived at work to discover a path of yellowy-brown paw prints main away from a container of hexavalent chromium, a extremely acidic carcinogen.
Touching the chemical may cause pores and skin irritation and inhaling it could result in respiratory issues. Factory workers put on masks and rubber gloves when dealing with the substance, the agency mentioned, in keeping with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
Security digital camera footage reveals the cat leaving the manufacturing unit, its whereabouts presently unknown.
There doesn’t seem like any footage displaying how the cat got here into contact with the chemical, which was saved in a three-metre-deep vat.
“We immediately alerted police, the Fukuyama city and neighbours near our factory,” a consultant of the agency, Nomura Plating Fukuyama Factory, instructed Agence France-Presse.
The firm mentioned a part of a sheet masking the tank appeared to have been turned over.
“The incident woke us up to the need to take measures to prevent small animals like cats from sneaking in, which is something we had never anticipated before,” the unnamed consultant added.
There had been no reported sightings of the animal as of Tuesday. Locals have been instructed to name police instantly if they arrive throughout an “abnormal-looking” cat, and to maintain their distance.
Fukuyama environmental officers speculated that the cat might have died on account of its encounter with the toxic chemical.