2017 Birling Gap incident

On 27 August 2017, a suspected chemical leak led to the evacuation of Beachy Head and beaches including Birling Gap in East Sussex. A mist appeared, and 233 people were treated at Eastbourne General Hospital, undergoing full chemical decontamination. Witnesses reported stinging and dried-up eyes despite repeated eyewashes. The gas was initially thought to be chlorine, but the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service considered that unlikely given the symptoms. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency investigated a possible leak from a disturbed shipwreck, such as the SS Mira, a First World War armed tanker sunk in 1917, and also examined around 180 ships that passed through the area that day. A Defra report ruled out land-based sources in England or France but suggested the cloud most likely came from a ship, wreck, or lost cargo in the English Channel.