‘I thought I’m dying’: Survivors in shock

VISAKHAPATNAM: Around 2:30am early on Thursday morning, styrene gas leaked from a plant in Visakhapatnam’s RR Venkatapuram village, spreading to villages over a 5km radius and affecting at least a 1,000 people. According to eyewitnesses and photos taken near the chemical plant, people were found lying unconscious on the streets hours after the gas leaked.

As rescuers rushed to take people to the hospital, many others were seen gasping for breath as they tried to flee, disoriented by the vapours. “No one could breathe. I couldn’t see anything for some time,” Vijay Raju, a local resident, said by phone. “For a moment, I thought I would die.”

Narendra, another villager, said he sensed something was wrong after he woke up in the middle of the night. “Around 2.30am, I woke up as my skin was itching. I opened my eyes but felt a burning sensation. I sensed some danger and woke up my family,” he said.

Authorities said it was only around 9:30am, when the vapours cleared a little, that they understood what had happened.