3 dead, 1000 fall ill after gas leak in Vizag chemical unit

Visakhapatnam: At least three persons, including a minor, were reported dead in an alleged gas leak in a chemical unit here, in the early hours of Wednesday. They died while undergoing treatment in a local hospital.

Panic struck in surrounding areas following a suspected gas leak in a chemical factory in the R.R. Venkatapuram village in Andhra Pradesh’s Vishakhapatnam. People were seen running helter-skelter.

More than a 1,000 people in five surrounding villages, in a three km radius, have been reported sick.

Eyewitness said that many people were lying unconscious on the ground. The incident took place at a polymers unit located in the vicinity of the Naiduthota area near Gopalapatnam.