Those killed due to the gas leak were present at the pharmaceutical unit.
Vishakhapatnam:
Two people were killed and four were hospitalized after a gas leak last night in a pharmaceutical unit in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
The deceased worked at the company’s Visakhapatnam unit, Sainor Life Sciences, police said, adding that the situation was now “under control”.
The pharmaceutical unit in the industrial area of Parwada, a port city, was closed immediately as a precaution after the benzimidazole gas leak was reported around 11:30 p.m., officials said.
“The situation is now under control. Two dead people were workers and were at the site of the leak (at the time of the incident). The gas did not spread anywhere else,” said a senior officer of police, Uday Kumar, quoted by the news agency. ANI.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has requested information about the incident, his office announced this morning.
The latest incident comes nearly two months after 11 people, including two children, were killed and more than 1,000 fell ill after a gas leak at a chemical plant – LG Polymers’ facility – in Visakhapatnam.
Toxic styrene gas had escaped from the chemical plant which had been closed for more than 40 days due to the national closure of the coronavirus. Three surrounding villages were evacuated and officials went from house to house, breaking in to bring the unconscious victims out.
The incident was compared by many to the Bhopal gas leak in 1984, one of the worst industrial disasters in history during the gas leak from a pesticide plant operated by Union Carbide. About 3,500 people died. Government statistics indicate that at least one lakh continues to suffer from chronic diseases.
(With entries from ANI)
