Gas Leakage At Pharma Plant In AP, 8 Dead, 1000 Affected

Vizag: A major toxic gas leak at the LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Thursday killed at least eight people and caused illness to hundreds in about 20 villages in a five kilometre range around it.

The death toll could go up as the condition of several of those hospitalised was reported to be serious. Dozens of villagers were found lying unconscious on the streets and trapped in houses in the villages and colonies near the factory located at Venkatapuram village, police said.

Director General of Police Gowtham Sawang said six people died in hospitals while two were brought dead ; but the toll is likely to be higher with a Reuters report putting it at at least 9.

“Over eight hundred people were evacuated from villages surrounding the factory and two hundred were moved to various hospitals, of which more than two dozen are on ventilators,” Sawang said.

A representative of LG polymers said the leak took place when the company was preparing to commence operations from Thursday after more than 40 days of lockdown during which operations were suspended. The company mostly succeeded in controlling the gas leak by around 9 am, he said.