Around 900 tonnes of lithium batteries went up in smoke over the weekend in southern France after a fire broke out at a recycling plant.
The blaze ravaged a storage warehouse, owned by French recycling group SNAM in Viviez, north of Toulouse, where thousands of batteries waiting to be recycled.
Amateur footage of the fire shows black smoke rising above the building, sparking fears the incident may pose an environmental and health hazard.
"This incident underscores the potential dangers associated with lithium batteries, given their combustible nature and the toxic materials they contain," Reuters quoted the local councillor Pascal Mazet as saying.
(With inputs from AP)