At least eight dead and thousands taken to hospital after chemical leak in India
By Sanjay Jha for ITV News in Delhi
At least eight people, including an eight-year-old girl, died and around 5,000 hospitalised after a gas leak at a chemical plant in southern India in the early hours of Thursday.
The Styrene gas leaked from the LG Polymers plant, part of the Korean conglomerate LG, in Andhra Pradesh state, and there are fears that the death toll could climb higher.
The incident led to panic among locals within a three-kilometre radius.
Indian television showed footage of people lying unconscious on roads while some suffered breathing difficulties.
People also complained of rashes on their body and sore eyes.
“A large number of people were trapped in their homes and bringing them out became almost impossible,” said assistant commissioner of police Swarooparanu.
“Several people were trapped in their bedrooms.”
Police patrolled and instructed people to come out of their homes and move to a safer place.
Locals began feeling the impact of the leak at 3am.
Many came out of their homes and ran to safer places.
Many fainted.
Police officials trying to supervise the rescue operations also found it difficult to breathe.
"Because of the leakage of the said compound gas, hundreds of people have inhaled it and either fell unconscious or having breathing issues,” Srijana Gummalla, a local official, said on Twitter.
Visakhapatnam is an industrial port city on India’s east coast and the plant is located on its outskirts.
The city and the surrounding area is home to around 5 million people.
Areas within an approximately three-kilometre radius of the plant were vulnerable, the municipal corporation said in a tweet.
Cross-referencing maps of the affected area, there is at least one coronavirus containment zone in the vicinity.