Chennai, June 30:
The toll in the June 21 Ammonia gas leak tragedy at a private seafood processing and export unit in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu rose to 16 on Tuesday with two more affected women succumbing at the government hospital.
While one of the affected victim succumbed on Sunday evening, the other victim died last evening despite best of treatment.
All the deceased were women and were hailing from Odisha, Assam and Jharkhand.
Authorities said the condition of the affected workers undergoing treatment in various hospitals are being closely monitored.
It may be noted that soon after the tragedy, Chief Minister Vijay announced a solatium of Rs two lakhs each to the bereaved families and formed a three-member expert committee headed by Director of Industrial Safety and Health, Member Secretary,Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and Additional Director of Public Health, to probe the incident.
As mandated by the Chief Minister the committee submitted its report to the government at the state secretariat within three days along with their recommendations to prevent such tragedies in future.
The National Human Rights Commission also took suo motu cognizance of the gas leak tragedy based on news reports and issued notices to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police seeking a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.
Police have arrested the owner and manager of the processing unit, which was also sealed by the government till further orders following the tragedy.