Vizag Chemical Gas Leak: 5 Dead, Hundreds in Hospital After Gas Leakage at LG Polymers Industry in Andhra Pradesh
More than a 1,000 people in five surrounding villages, in a three km radius, have been reported sick. Eyewitness said that many people were lying unconscious on the ground.
New Delhi, May 7: At least five people have been killed and several hundred hospitalised after a gas leak at a chemicals plant on the east coast of India, police said Thursday. "We can confirm at least five deaths right now. More will be confirmed later.
At least 70 people in the nearby hospitals are in an unconscious state and overall 200 to 500 locals are still getting treatment (at the hospitals)," said police official Swaroop Rani in Visakhapatnam. Chemical Gas Leakage at LG Polymers Industry in Visakhapatnam: 3 Dead, Several Others Rushed to Hospital After Complaining of Breathlessness & Vomiting.
She said that the incident happened at a plant operated by LG Polymers and that gas leaked out of two 5,000-tonne tanks that had been unattended due to India's coronavirus lockdown in place since late March.
"It was left there because of the lockdown. It led to a chemical reaction and heat was produced inside the tanks, and the gas leaked because of that," Rani, an assistant commissioner, told AFP.
"We received an emergency call from the local villagers around 3.30 am in the morning today. They said there was some gas in the air," she said. "We reached there immediately. One could feel the gas in the air and it was not possible for any of us to stay there for more than a few minutes. Prepared rescue workers started working from around 4.00 am."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 07, 2020 09:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).