Majority of the affected in the gas leak disaster in Vizagon Thursday that reminded everyone of the Bhopal tragedy, comprised children.Close to 150 children are undergoing treatment and most of them are respondingpositively, doctors said.
Even as authorities have managed to neutralise the gas andcontain the impact of the leak, the official death toll in Visakhapatnam wentup to 8. The dead include an 8-year old girl and 2 senior citizens. Hospitalauthorities are searching for the parents of a young child who is in thehospital.
Speaking to the media, Andhra Pradesh’s DGP, Gautam Sawangsaid that of the 246 people currently receiving treatment, 20 are onventilators. Reports from other hospitals are also indicating that thecondition of the hospitalised persons is gradually improving.
He said that water is one of the antidotes for styrene andso water has been sprayed in the air to neutralise the gas. “The entireVenkatapuram village has been cleared and around 700 people have been evacuatedfrom there. Around 800 people were admitted to hospitals but most of them havebeen discharged. Around 240 people are still in hospitals.”
Sawang said that forensic teams are looking into theincident to ascertain the cause.
Meanwhile the survivors undergoing treatment at varioushospitals in Visakhpatnam recounted their near-death encounter after the gasleak started around 2.30 a.m., while most of them were in deep slimber.
One of the women in KG Hospital said: “We could feel astrange smell. It was a very surreal feeling. Am I alive or dead. I could seepeople and animals lying on the ground. I dont know how I reached thehospital.”
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy held anemergency meetings with his top officials at Amaravati before leaving forVisakhapatnam for personally overseeing the rescue operations.
Tragedy struck Andhra Pradesh early on Thursday as gasleaked from a chemical unit in the city, leaving one minor among the dead, andclose to 100 unconscious, with at least five sleeping hamlets affected unawareas most were still in bed.
Initial casualties included a 8-year-old girl. One man isreported to have died when he jumped into a well while another person fell offthe balcony of his house as the gas leak at the LG Polymers unit located at RRVenkatapuram near Gopalapatnam spread across the five sleeepy villaged around2.30 a.m.
In scenes reminiscent of the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, thestreets and hospitals of Visakhapatnam were filled with people in panic, scaredto breathe and unable to fathom the silent tragedy that struck them.
According to Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporationofficials, the tragedy took place when the chemical unit, closed due to thelockdown, was being restarted on Thursday morning. The gas stored in tanksbegan leaking and spread in a radius of 3 km. Officials have zeroed in on twogases, styrene and pentine, as the likely causes for the accident.
Early morning sights included people lying unconscious onthe streets and dead cattle by the roadside. People, with children strung overtheir shoulders, ran in panic towards hospitals. Ambulances rushed to the areaand transported 70 unconscious people to the King George hospital.
Eyewitnesses said that the incident took place around 2.30a.m. when people were fast asleep in their homes. All of a sudden people insurrounding areas woke up with a sense of breathlessness, terrible itching, andburning sensation in their eyes. Panic-stricken they rushed out of their homes,only to collapse. Several cattle and livestock also succumbed to the poisonousgas pervading the air.
The impact of the tragedy was reduced to some extent as theplant operatives immediately alerted the authorities following which thedistrict administration swung into action, an official said. The surroundingareas within a radius of 3 kms have been cleared of people and arrangementsmade for feeding around 7,500 people who have been asked to vacate their homes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah arekeepinmg abreast of all details. Modi has started a meeting with NDMA officialsto moniter the situation.
Officials said that the leak has been sealed and the gasdissipates fast and so the death toll may not increase substantially.
LG Polymers, is among India’s leading manufacturer ofpolystyrene and expandable polystyrene. The plant located at Visakhapatnam,belongs to the Mumbai-based LG Polymers India, which is part of the SouthKorean group LG Chemical. Originally set up in 1961, as Hindustan Polymers formanufacturing polystyrene and its co-polymers, the company was merged withMcDowell & Co Ltd of UB Group in 1978. It ultimately became part of theSouth Korean group LG Chemical, in 1997.