Chlorine gas leak in Mumbai Port Trust
Over seventy people have been rushed to hospital in Mumbai after chlorine gas leaked from a cylinder in a container parked at the Mumbai Port Trust.
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The Bhopal gas tragedy of over 25 years ago still haunts the country. It was a nightmare, thus, when a part of South Mumbai woke up to the news that toxic Chlorine gas had leaked from a cylinder kept at the Mumbai Port Trust at 3.15 am on Wednesday morning.
The leak was contained six hours later, at 9 am.
The gas caused acute respiratory distress affecting close to 100 people in the Maximum city. -
Over 70 people were hospitalised and eight of them were reported to be critically ill and were transferred to the cardiac intensive care unit.
The victims were admitted to JJ Hospital and King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital. Among those in hospital are 14 students of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Maritime College. -
"Following the complaint, our men rushed to the spot to plug the leakage. However, four of our men also took ill and have been rushed to nearby hospitals," Uday Tatkare, the Chief Fire Officer, said.
Rahul Asthana, Deputy Chairman of the Mumbai Port Trust said that the situation was under control as Sodium Hydroxide as a neutralising agent was procured. -
Chlorine gas is a respiratory irritant and it causes eye irritation including nausea, vomiting, dizziness and headache. If a person is trapped for a long period in a high chlorine concentration atmosphere, loss of consciousness and possibly death can happen.
