Amidst corona threat and a series of lockdowns, a gas leak from a factory in Vishakapatnam and boiler burst in Neyveli have shocked everyone. The Covid-19 has brought the nation to standstill.
All industries are shut. Film shoots are cancelled. Malls and cinema halls are closed. The lockdown 3.0 ends 17 May. However, the virus threat is on the rise in metro cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.
Styrene vapours leaked in a thickly populated area of Gopalapatnam in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam.
The leak occurred at the LG Polymers unit at RR Venkatapuram village. More than 10000 people living near the plant were evacuated while over 800 rushed to hospitals with complaints of rashes on the body and burning sensations in the eyes. 11 lives were lost. The symptoms of being affected by the styrene gas are irritation in their eyes, breathlessness, nausea and rashes. People poisoned by styrene felt dizziness and fell unconscious.
In another incident, eight people received burn injuries at a boiler blast at a thermal power plant in Neyveli. Meanwhile, seven workers fell ill after inhaling some poisonous gas at a paper mill in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, police said.
The incident occurred at Shakti Paper Mill in Tetla village, where the victims were cleaning an open tank on Wednesday evening. It’s not just corona, but a seies of such incidents has let loose fear among people.