At least 11 people, including an eight-year-old girl, have died after a chemical gas leak in southern India.
Many of the nearly 1,000 injured complained of a burning sensation in the eyes and breathing difficulties following the incident in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
People struggled to breathe while some collapsed in the street as they tried to escape the fumes.
HAZMAT response to fatal India gas leak
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Many were taken to hospital after breathing in the fumes
Nearly 100 people were taken to hospital, local police commissioner RK Meena said.
Styrene, a highly flammable substance which releases a poisonous gas when burnt and can cause nausea and dizziness, leaked from an LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam, the largest and most populous city in the state, in the early hours of Thursday.
The gas leaked after a fire broke out as workers prepared to resume production at the site following an easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in the country, local official Vinay Chand said.
One person died falling into a well while running away and another died after he jumped from the second storey of his house to escape, Mr Chand said, adding that several people fainted on the road.
Nearly 3,000 people, many of whom were asleep when the leak started at around 2.30am, were evacuated from a village near the plant, Mr Meena said.
TV pictures showed people lying in the streets after they had collapsed.
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Many were taken to hospital after breathing in the fumes
A witness said there was total panic as a mist-like gas enveloped the area. “People felt breathless in their homes and tried to run away. Darkness added to the confusion,” he told a television channel.
Srijana Gummala, the local municipal commissioner, said people were being asked to use wet masks while water was sprayed in the area to minimise the impact of the gas.
“Hundreds of people have inhaled it and either fell unconscious or having breathing issues,” she added.
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People fan a woman taken ill during the leak
Anywhere within a roughly two-mile (3km) radius of the plant was vulnerable, the municipal corporation said.
At least one coronavirus containment area is affected.
The plant is operated by a South Korean company, LG Chem, whose spokesperson Song Chun-seob said it was co-operating with Indian authorities to help residents and employees and looking into what caused the leak.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said that he had spoken to officials from the federal home ministry and the NationalDisaster Management Authority, who were monitoring the crisis.
“I pray for everyone’s safety and well-being in Visakhapatnam,” he said in a tweet.
The LG Polymers plant makes polystyrene products, according to a company website, which are used in manufacturing electric fan blades, cups and cutlery and containers for cosmetic products such as make-up.
In December 1984, thousands of people died following a gas leak in Bhopal.
More than 500,000 people were exposed to the methyl isocyanate gas in what is believed to be the world’s worst industrial disaster.
