Some 800 Go employees were evacuated from their Marsa offices yesterday after complaining of a strong smell of fuel coming from the Menqa area.

According to employees who spoke to this newspaper as they were walking out of their offices at around noon, they started smelling a foul smell earlier on during the day and when this became unbearable, they were instructed by their superiors to evacuate the building.

“We were told to leave the offices, but we were not given any other information as to what was causing it,” one employee said.

Another claimed the smell was so unbearable that she started feeling nauseous. She said it even filtered through the air vents at the offices and was everywhere. “I happened to be sitting right under one of the air vents, and I felt as though I could not breathe. The stench was so pungent, we had to leave,” the employee said.

A Transport Malta spokesman told this newspaper that the transport watchdog had received a report from the Environment and Resources Authority, ERA, that there was a heavy odour in the area at around 10am.

Following investigations by the ERA, it emerged that the smell could have originated from a vessel berthed at Flagstone Wharf, the spokesman said, adding that Transport Malta officials had been sent to the vessel to investigate further.

According to the vessel master who spoke with the watchdog officials, the crew had not carried out “any abnormal activities” that could have resulted in the foul smell, the spokesman went on.

“Yesterday, the crew were only sampling tanks for cargo analysis, an operation that took about an hour,” the spokesman said, adding that the vessel master, crew and personnel at Flagstone Wharf claimed to not smell any abnormal odours.

According to the spokesman, despite the watchdog not receiving any other reports about unusual smells in the area, an investigation as to what could have led to the fuel stench was ongoing.