Mumbai (AsiaNews / Agencies) – Over 60 people have been intoxicated, some of them seriously, after a chlorine gas leak in an industrial area of Mumbai in western India. The incident occurred today in the Sewri area and, initially, there was talk of three victims. The gas is leaking from a cylinder kept in a warehouse. Authorities have evacuated at least 500 people from the area.
Uday Tatkare, chief of the city fire brigade, confirms that the chlorine leak occurred around 4 am in the industrial area of Sewri in a warehouse owned by the Mumbai Port Trust. "The spill - the fireman told AFP - is now under control and we are trying to assess the damage”. The intoxicated include four firefighters, whose conditions however are of not serious.
The people in the hospitals of Mumbai have the typical symptoms of intoxication, including "lack of air, feeling of suffocation and nausea. Eight of the wounded were hospitalized in intensive care in “critical” conditions say health care workers. At first the local television announced the death of three persons. However there has been no official confirmation of deaths.
