The phosphorous was spread with special foam, but rescue workers could not bring the fire under control. Sixteen of them were poisoned and hospitalized, thirteen in critical condition. Fortunately, there were no victims.

Now Lviv oblast environmental safety department says the situation in the area is stable. However, local residents have concerns, they say.

Last year 3,155 children living in the accident-hit areas were taken for summer vacations on the government grant. This year, only one boy, Yury Kryt, who was rushed to the hospital on the second day of the accident, was offered free vacations.

Local school deputy principal Oleksandra Soltys says that all the 267 children that go to school in Ozhydiv need spa treatment. Some of them went off during classes, and their general physical condition leaves much to be desired, she adds.

There is no nurse at the Ozhydiv school and the first aid is typically given by teachers. There is also no canteen.

Even now, the locals feel they are kept in the dark about the true state of environment by the authorities, recalling former Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk who publicly called the accident “the second Chornobyl.”

July 7, 2008, Lviv oblast environmental safety department disseminated its release saying that the ecological situation in the area is normal. The department experts based their conclusions on the condition of surface waters, soil, drinking water, cattle and vegetation, they say.

In a related move, Lviv oblast health department has monitored the condition of local residents. “No pronounced anomaly in the health of residents has been found,” its chief Ihor Herych says.

As a result of the crash, 50 m of rail tracks, 3 poles and 100 m of electricity wires were destroyed. The area contaminated by the accident was about 300 square meters. The poisonous cloud spread across the Lviv oblast and into the Volyn oblast.

Rescue workers lifted the last car on July 25. The following day a train with the remaining phosphorous left across Ukraine for the Russian border. It was followed by 2 fire-engine trains.

In total, rescue workers collected 10 tons of crystallized phosphorous at the 450-sq.m. site of the crash.