ROME (AP) — Rome authorities are recommending residents close their windows and stay indoors following a massive fire at a waste treatment plant that covered much of the Eternal City in thick smoke.
Schools sent out messages advising parents they were keeping children indoors Tuesday and the mayor's office urged Romans to avoid eating food cultivated around the plant, suggesting fears of toxic residue settling around the north part of Rome.
A huge plume of black smoke snaked up from the plant hours after the fire erupted overnight, and even residents in the southern reaches of the city woke up to choking air.
The cause was under investigation.
Rome's garbage collection and disposal problems are notorious, with daily accounts on social media of overflowing bins even in prime tourist and residential neighborhoods.
