The poisonous gas leak from a chemical plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, that killed at least 11 people and jolted around 1,000 others, needs to be fully investigated by local authorities, stated General Antonio Guterres, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary.
“We obviously send our condolences to the victims and hope for a quick recovery to those who have been impacted. And I think these kinds of incidents need to be fully investigated by the local authorities,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric at the daily press briefing.
In the early hours of Thursday, styrene gas leaked from a plastic manufacturing unit of LG Polymers plant at RR Venkatapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s Gopalapatnam near Visakhapatnam at around 2:30 AM and quickly spread to villages in a 5-kilometer radius, affecting around five villages, killing at least 11 people and impacting about 1,000 others.
Scores of people could be seen lying unconscious on sidewalks, near ditches and on the road, while many people fell unconscious in their sleep, a villager said. Among the dead were two children, aged six and nine, a first-year medical student and two people who fell into a well while fleeing the vapors from the plant. 246 other people with health complications are undergoing treatment at Visakhapatnam’s King George Hospital.
