Andhra Pradesh gas leak: Over 120 women workers fall sick, hospitalised
Premium- At least 121 women have been hospitalized in Andhra Pradesh after a gas leak at an apparel manufacturing plant
At least 121 women have been hospitalized in Andhra Pradesh after a gas leak at an apparel manufacturing plant on Wednesday. The factory workers complained of nausea and vomiting at a plant in the Atchyutapuram district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday night. Some of the women, who were working at the factory told the media they smelt a burning sensation when they went to the canteen. Immediately they experienced vomiting, irritation in the eyes, and also nausea. They then immediately rushed back to the plant from the canteen, where some of them fell unconscious and the management shifted them to hospitals. Police told media agencies that the women's condition is stable and added, "There are no deaths. Investigations are going on".
The state's industries minister Gudivada Amarnath has said the manufacturing plant will remain closed until the investigation into the leakage concludes.
It is the second incident of the gas leak in Brandix India Apparel City. In June a similar mishap happened when around 200 women fell unconscious after a gas leak in the same area. At that time, the gas leakage was reportedly due to the leakage of air conditioning gas.
Speaking about the latest incident, the industrial minister said the cause of the gas leakage was yet to be ascertained and the police and pollution control board teams were investigating the matter. Amarnath said some samples were also sent to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for a more detailed examination.
"High-level inquiry ordered into the incident. The samples have been sent to ICMR for further inquiry. It remains to be determined whether it was a random or a deliberate act," the minister told ANI news agency.
According to the Vishakhapatnam district officials, 53 people were admitted for treatment in a government hospital, while 41 others were undergoing treatment in other hospitals in the district.
In 2020, at least five people were killed and hundreds were hospitalised after a gas leak at a chemical plant in Visakhapatnam, an industrial port city in the same state.
In 1984, India witnessed one of its worst industrial disasters in history when gas leaked from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, a city in central India.
Around 3,500 people living around the plant operated by Union Carbide died in the days that followed the leak. People continue to suffer its effects of it to this day.
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