20 hospitalised after gas leak at Andhra dairy plant

HYDERABAD: About 20 workers, including 14 women, were hospitalised following an ammonia gas leak from a private dairy unit in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district Thursday, officials said.

The incident happened at Hatsun Dairy at M Bandapalli village of Poothalapattu block around 9 pm as workers were undertaking welding of the plant at around 9.30 pm. All the affected were contract workers and came for the night duty.

The latest incident comes three months after a deadly gas leak near the port city of Visakhapatnam, at a plant operated by a unit of South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd, killed 12 and led to the hospitalisation of hundreds.

Chittoor district collector Narayana Bharat Gupta, superintendent of police Senthil Kumar rushed to the factory to supervise rescue efforts.