At least 50 amongst them fainted in the gas leakage from a cold storage unit at Shahbad Markanda, about 20 kms from Kurukshetra.
Representational Image (File Photo: IANS)
At least 100 people today got affected after inhaling ammonia gas that leaked from a cold storage plant in Harayana’s Kurukshetra district.
At least 50 amongst them fainted in the gas leakage from a cold storage unit at Shahbad Markanda, about 20 kms from Kurukshetra.
According to the police, two of them were seriously ill and admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital in the city, some 100 km from Delhi.
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According to the doctor, 15 persons were admitted to the hospital at Shahbad while two were sent to Kurukshetra. A few were discharged after treatment. All of them were stable, he said.
From the nearby residential areas of Hargovind cold storage in Nalvi village, police evacuated around 100 people as safety measure. The residents there complained of suffocation and many of them started vomiting and some were rushed to a nearby hospital.
Police is still ascertaining the details of the case and the cause of the gas leakage is not yet known. An initial investigation into the gas leak incident found lapses on the part of the company, said a police official.
News agency IANS quoted an official as saying that “the toxic gas leaked from the plant at 9.30 pm on Tuesday when most of the employees were not working inside the unit.It had subsequently spread to the neighbouring areas.”
Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police Astha Modi said that the leakage has been plugged now with the help of the fire department personnel, late in the night.
A probe was underway, but no arrest has been made so far.
According to fire brigade officials, water was sprayed to lessen the impact of the leaked gas.
Toxic gas ammonia is used in manufacturing, refrigeration and agriculture is a pungent and colourless in nature.
(With agency inputs)
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