At least 6 dead, 23 hospitalized due to gas leak in India

New Delhi, Jan 6 (EFE).- At least six people died and 23 others were hospitalized Thursday due to the leakage of a toxic gas from a tanker truck in the state of Gujarat in western India, an official source told EFE.

“Six factory workers died and 23 were taken to a hospital, seven of whom remain under assisted breathing even though they are stable,” said Basant Pareek, the fire department chief of Surat city, where the incident occurred.

Pareek said the event occurred in the morning because a tanker illegally dumped a chemical in a drain near a dyeing and printing factory, which “could have caused a reaction with another product,” releasing a cloud of toxic gas.

Building collapses, fires, and other industrial accidents are frequent in India, often due to poor infrastructure conditions and improper enforcement of security protocols amid rampant corruption, and illegal practices in the construction sector.

In May 2020, some dozen people died and hundreds were affected by a gas leak from a chemical plant Vishakhapatnam, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The country witnessed one of the largest industrial accidents in history when a toxic gas leak from a pesticide factory caused thousands of deaths in the city of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh in 1984, with aftereffects lasting till today. EFE

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