Hundreds injured and at least 13 dead in Indian gas plant leak
Agasleakedfromanlgchemical plant in southern India, leaving people struggling to breathe and collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee.
At least 13 people died in yesterday’s incident and about 1,000 suffered breathing difficulties and other problems.
The synthetic chemical styrene leaked from the LG Polymers plant in a city on India’s eastern coast while workers were preparing to restart the facility after a coronavirus lockdown was eased, state official Vinay Chand said.
A fire broke out before the gas leak was extinguished. Police said the gas leak was later halted and the air had cleared. Mr Chand said some people collapsed on the road and were rushed to a hospital. About 1,000 people in an area of 1.8 miles complained of breathing difficulties and a burning sensation in their eyes, he said.
About 100 people were hospitalised and in a non-lifethreatening condition, Police
Commissioner R.K. Meena said. S.N. Pradhan, chief of the National Disaster Response Force, said 13 people had died.
The dead included an eightyear-old girl. Mr Meena said one person died after falling into a well while running away and another person died after jumping from the second story of his house to escape. The others died in a hospital.
State industries minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy said rescuers broke open the doors of village homes which were locked from the inside and found some people who had collapsed and transported them to a hospital.
South Korean company LG Chem Ltd operates the plant invishakhapatnaminandhra Pradesh state. The firm says it is South Korea’s largest chemical company and is part of the LG Corp. conglomerate.
The company said it was cooperating with Indian authorities to help residents and employees. “The gas leakage is now under control, but the leaked gas can cause nausea and dizziness, so we are investing every effort to ensure proper treatment is provided swiftly,” LG Chem said in a statement.
It is looking into the cause of the leak of styrene monomer gas, which is used to produce plastic, but will not know exactly until Indian authorities complete their investigation, company official Song Chun-seob said.
The Vishakhapatnam plant is a leading manufacturer of polystyrene plastic in India. It employs around 300 workers, but Mr Song said the victims appeared mostly to be local residents.
Mekapati Goutham Sawang, the state director-general of police, said styrene gas “is not a poisonous or a lethal gas”.
“Only if one inhales high doses of it, it is serious,” he said. “Otherwise, it leads to irritation, losing coherence and breathlessness.”
Authorities deployed 25 ambulances to move the victims to hospitals while television showed people lying in the streets after they collapsed while trying to flee.