Friday 29th of March 2024, 15:30 CET
Run on gas masks in Constanta
March 19, 2003
Associated Press

Written by Dan Mihaescu
Posted by HW on March 29, 2024

Gas masks and canned meat
Hundreds of people are ordering gas masks, buying canned meat and calling civil protection authorities in this Black Sea port where thousands of U.S. troops are based, local officials said Wednesday.

Fear of war
They"re afraid that if war against Iraq begins, they could come under attack.
Local authorities have called for calm, stressing there is no immediate danger, but residents have been stocking up on supplies of canned meat and vegetables anyway.

US troops
There are between 3,000 to 4,000 U.S. troops based at the airport in Constanta, which has been turned into an air bridge for equipment and personnel flying between airbases in Germany and the Gulf.

Civil protection department
As fears of an imminent war grew, calls to the civil protection department increased to about 100 per day, with people asking how to protect themselves and their homes in case of an attack, said Vasile Taran, chief of the civil protection department in Constanta.
Usually, the department receives calls only in case of a flood or an earthquake.

Prices go up
Major companies in this city of 450,000, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Bucharest, have ordered gas masks from the same department. One company, Comvex, whose employees work in the port, requested 450 masks at 2 million apiece (US$60), up from the usual retail price of 1.4 million lei (US$42).

"Ever since the Iraq crisis started and the direct threat of war.... the only firm to produce gas masks raised the prices .... because of the growing demand," he said.

Communist style
During last weekend, Romanians flocked to second-hand markets to buy 20-year-old gas masks made during the regime of late Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Most had defunct air filters.

"I couldn"t find another one and I think it"s better than nothing," said Gheorghe Preda, a ship captain who bought an old mask.
 
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