Deadly leak at Indian chemical plant kills 11
SCORES SICKENED
DELHI • At least 11 people are dead and hundreds more needed hospital treatment Thursday after a pre-dawn gas leak at a chemical plant in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh that left unconscious victims lying in the streets.
The gas escaped out of tanks at a complex on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, owned by LG Chem of South Korea, that had suspended operations because of India’s virus lockdown.
Industry experts warned that there could be other deadly gas leaks in India as plants reopen. And the death toll in Andhra Pradesh was expected to rise with at least 25 in critical condition of the 1,000 taken to hospital.
Indian television showed Visakhapatnam residents, including women and children, slumped in the streets after locals raised the alarm in the early hours.
“There was utter confusion and panic. People were unable to breathe, they were gasping for air. Those who were trying to escape collapsed on the roads — kids, women and all,” Kumar Reddy, 24, told reporters.
Victims said it was not the first gas leak from the plant. Seven people were taken to hospital Thursday in a separate leak at a paper mill in the state of Chhattisgarh.
The scenes in Andhra Pradesh have again highlighted India’s shocking industrial safety record, which has always been overshadowed by the 1984 Bhopal disaster in which thousands died.
Thursday’s incident saw highly toxic styrene gas leak from the works outside the city of Visakhapatnam at 3 a.m. Those living within about five kilometres of the plant woke up with breathing difficulties, sore eyes, headaches, and skin rashes, and tried to flee.
“You’re not able to breathe and you can’t stay there for any longer. You have to go, that’s all, there is no other option,” Balasouri, a 33-yearold man, told Business Insider India. Social media recorded women and children collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee.
India’s National Disaster Response Force evacuated five nearby villages of 1,500 people.
The gas leak was finally brought under control at 8 a.m., according to an LG Polymers representative.
The incident occurred while employees were checking a gas storage tank as they prepared to reopen the plant after it had been left unattended for 40 days.
A preliminary report concluded that a technical glitch in a poorly maintained refrigeration unit caused up to 1,800 tons of styrene to vaporize and leak.
There is unlikely to be any long-term health impact for victims, according to Dr. Randeep Guleria, the director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
The government and LG Chem are investigating.