Gas leak at pharmaceutical firm in Visakhapatnam, 2 dead

At least two people were killed and four taken ill late on Monday night after benzimidazole gas leaked at Sainor Life Sciences in Visakhapatnam’s Parawada Pharma City.

The situation is under control now. The two persons who died were workers and were present at the leakage site. Gas has not spread anywhere else,”, said Uday Kumar, an inspector with the Parwada Police Station

About 30 workers were in the factory at the time of the incident. District collector and other officials reached spot in the morning and ordered for inquiry.

This is the second incident in the district in two months. A major gas leak occurred in LG Polymers chemical plant on May 7 causing the death of at least 12 people and numerous cattle. One similar gas leak (in a paper mill in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh) and one boiler blast (Neyveli, Tamilnadu) followed. While these events were being investigated, on 22 May, Pune in Maharashtra saw a major fire break out in a chemical factory.