At least 8 people have died so far and several have fallen sick after a
gas leak incident was reported in the wee hours of Thursday at
LG Polymers industry in
Visakhapatnam. The toxic has
Styrene leaked from the plant as workers were preparing to restart operations after remaining shut during lockdown.
Reports stated that people in a 3-km radius complained of rashes even as many were found lying unconscious and faced breathing problems. The district
authorities and the police rushed to the spot as soon as it came to light. Authorities are sprayed water to limit the impact of the gas. The gas leak has been contained and situation is under control, said Andhra Pradesh DGP Goutam Sawang.
Here are live updates:
- Eight people have died so far in the gas leak incident. Over eight hundred people were evacuated from villages surrounding the factory.
- Two hundred were moved to various hospitals, of which more than two dozen people are on ventilators, state DGP said.
- The South Korean parent company has said that the gas leak is under control and they are investigating the exact cause.
- TDP President Chandrababu Naidu has appealed to central government to call global medical experts who can treat those affected by styrene gas leak. He also asked the Centre to gauge the extent of damage caused by the Styrene gas.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of NDMA and took stock of the situation.
- NDRF and SDRF teams are currently carrying out rescue operations in the affected area.
- Around 8,000 people to be screened around the affected area.
- The local MLA has appealed to the people not to come towards to the affected area.
- Authorities have asked people to cover their faces with wet cloth.
- The synthetic chemical styrene leaked from the LG Polymers plant, which workers were preparing to restart after it was closed during the coronavirus lockdown, an AP report said.