LG polymers gas leak: Several were killed after gas leaked from chemical plant in Visakhapatnam
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In disturbing videos from villages within range of the gas leak, men, women and children were seen on the ground, apparently having passed out after inhaling the gas, which is not toxic.
At least a hundred people, many in masks for COVID-19 precaution, were seen in visuals on a chaotic road trying to help the injured and bundling them into waiting ambulances.
Residents near the LG Polymers India plant in Gopalpatnam reported burning sensation in their eyes and difficulty in breathing, officials said.
People within a 3 pm radius of the chemical plant have been affected. Police officer Swaroop Rani in Visakhapatnam was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying the gas leaked out of two 5,000-tonne tanks that had been unattended due to the lockdown in place since late March.
"It was left there because of the lockdown. It led to a chemical reaction and heat was produced inside the tanks, and the gas leaked because of that," the officer told AFP.
The first call reporting gas in the air went to the police at 3.30 am. When teams arrived, they found it difficult to breathe or see clearly.
In tweets and announcements, the municipal office warned people in the vicinity of the gas leak and urged everyone to stay indoors. People were also asked to wear wet masks or cover their face with wet cloth.
In one of the mobile videos, a woman standing near a scooter suddenly collapses on the pavement. Another woman is seen taking her child to an ambulance.
RK Meena, police chief of Vishakhapatnam, said the gas has been neutralised and an FIR has been filed.
The plant makes polystyrene and expandable polystyrene, a versatile plastic used to make a wide variety of consumer products like toys and appliances. Set up in 1961 as Hindustan Polymers, the company was taken over by South Korea's LG Chem and renamed LG Polymers India in 1997.
