Safety lapses eyed in deadly gas leak

NEW DELHI — A committee appointed by India’s top environmental court has blamed “gross human failure” and lack of basic safety norms for a gas leak in a South Korean-owned chemical factory that killed 12 people and sickened hundreds.

The committee said the tanks from which the gas leaked May 7 at the LG Polymers plant in Vishakhapatnam were outdated and lacked temperature sensors.

Factory workers were slow to respond to the leak and the chemical company lacked experience in monitoring and maintaining tanks full of chemicals that sat idle for weeks due to India’s coronavirus lockdown, said the report, which was issued last week.

LG Polymers is owned by LG Chem Ltd., South Korea’s largest chemical company.