A massive gas leakage incident took place in a Visakhapatnam-based LG Polymers factory in the early hours of Thursday morning.
11 persons have so far lost their lives, and over 5,000 have fallen sick, 200 of them critically ill and about 20 on ventilator support, due to the impact of the poisonous gas Styrene, about 3 tons of which leaked out, and which affected people within a distance of 3 km.
The leakage causing havoc in five surrounding villages of the area. Venkatapuram village where the factory is located was the worst affected village. The impact of the gas was also felt on other villages like Naiduthota, Padmanabhapuram and Kamparapalem.
Officials of the Andhra Pradesh government immediately sprung to action to rescue those affected. They also evacuated the people living within 5 km of the factory, and roped in the services of RTC buses to rush the victims to safe locations.
Comparisons with the Bhopal gas tragedy immediately followed, but doctors have said that Styrene is dangerous only if inhaled in large quantities, and does not have too many long-term implications.
The police have meanwhile registered cases against the management of LG Polymers, a South Korean company. The AP government has said that the situation is stable.