4
News Extra
Representative image: Shutterstock
Gas leak in India kills 12 people as hundreds fall ill A
gas leak in southern India killed 12 people on May 7 as hundreds of people fell ill with burning eyes and breathing difficulties. Hundreds more people were also evacuated after the leak at the LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh state. South Korea-based LG Chem which owns the impacted factory said that the leak, which was first detected at around 03:00 local time, was brought under control a few hours later. Around 800 people from surrounding villages were taken to hospital shortly after the incident. In a statement, LG Chem said that it was assessing the extent of the damage from the leak and was working with relevant organisations to protect residents and employees. The chemical company added that a night shift maintenance worker first
discovered the leak which was emitting a gas known to cause nausea and dizziness. LG Chem has opened an investigation to find out how the leak was caused. The plant has been closed since March 24 due to India’s coronavirus lockdown but has been preparing to resume operations in recent days. The BBC reports that India’s State Industries Minister Goutam Reddy said proper procedures and guidelines were not followed during the plant’s re-opening. A local police official was also quoted as saying the gas had been left in a tank due to the lockdown which caused a heatproducing chemical reaction to occur. The heat could then have caused the leak.
gas spread through local villages causing a panic amongst locals. Social media footage shows distressed residents running out of their homes, some falling unconscious in the street. Reuters news agency reports that several employees were inside the plant at the time of the leak which spread across approximately three kilometres (two miles). According to its website, the LG Polymers plant makes polystyrene products for manufacturing electric fan blades, cups and cutlery and containers for cosmetics.
Police attended the scene shortly after the
The BBC quotes a senior official from the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board as saying the leaked gas could have been styrene which is usually kept refrigerated. Styrene is
leak was discovered but had to evacuate the area immediately due to the toxic gas. The
highly flammable and produces a poisonous gas when heated.
Factory explosion kills one, injures two in Italy A
n explosion at a plastics factory near Naples, Italy killed one person and injured two others on May 5. The incident happened at the Adler Plastic works in Ottaviano. One of the injured people was transported to hospital in a critical condition. Local media reported that the blast could be heard from several kilometres away, while witnesses reported seeing a large plume of black smoke rising from the
www.hazardexonthenet.net
factory premises.
The factory had only reopened on May 4 after the Italian government eased the lockdown in the country following the coronavirus pandemic.
Italian news website TGCOM24 reports that some employees who managed to escape the factory said the blast may have been caused by a gas cylinder exploding. One person was taken to a hospital in
Naples while the critically injured person was taken to hospital in Nola on the outskirts of Naples.
The Adler Plastic works had been operating with reduced staff working in shifts in order for employees to work safely apart. Local government officials recommended people closed windows and doors in the aftermath of the explosion as a precaution. An investigation into the incident has been opened.
