Over 150 people have been treated for breathing problems after an accident at a chemical plant sent a cloud of sulfuric acid gas floating over a German city. 

Police and firefighters evacuated dozens of people from homes and businesses near to the complex in Oberhausen where the spillage occurred on Thursday morning. 

Authorities took to Twitter and Facebook to warn all residents in the metropolis in the old industrial Ruhr region to close all windows and doors and to avoid going outside.