100 workers fall sick after gas leak in Atchutapuram factory in Visakhapatnam

VISAKHAPATNAM, Aug 2: Over 100 workers fell ill after a gas leak in an Andhra Pradesh Special Economic Zone (SEZ) factory on Tuesday. The victims were from an apparel manufacturing unit located near the chemical factory in Atchutapuram in Anakapalli district near Visakhapatnam where the leak occurred. This is the second such incident at the same company in the Brandix SEZ in two months.

The Government has issued orders to close the chemical company immediately. It is suspected that the ammonia gas leaked from the chemical company might have entered the AC ducts of the Apparel company.

Those who fell ill have been admitted to five hospitals and all of them are reported out of danger. The Government said it will bear the cost of the treatment of the victims. AP Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath said that 121 people fell ill.

The victims, mostly women, complained of vomiting, nausea and breathlessness. Some of them fell unconscious. They were employees of Apparel India, which employs only women and is located near Porus Labs, the chemical company, from where the leak occurred. Another report said the leak occurred at Quantum Seeds.

Apparel India Private Ltd, where the two accidents occurred, said in a statement that the victims were in a stable condition.

"The incident took place between 6:15 pm and 7 pm. There were around 1,000 employees in the second shift, which was between 2 pm to 10 pm. 50 women complaining of vomiting and nausea were shifted to Ankapalli Hospital," police said.

In an earlier incident, on June 3, about 300 women employees were affected. Subsequently, Apparel and Porus Labs were shut down for a week and an inquiry was ordered by the Government. About 50 women were sent to hospitals while others were provided first aid. The report submitted by a team of experts from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad has not been made public yet. it was suspected that ammonia gas leaked from the Porus Laboratories unit.

On June 29, 2020, two persons died following benzimidazole gas leakage at the Sainor Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, a pharma company located at the Jawahar Pharma City in Parawada area of Visakhapatnam. Around 30 employees were working at the time of the mishap. The accident occurred at 11.30 pm on Monday (June 29, 2020).

On May 7, 2020, eleven people reportedly died after toxic gas leaked from a chemical plant of a multinational firm in Visakhapatnam and 1,000 people had taken ill.