#VizagGasLeak- UN demands full investigation into gas leak at chemical plant

New Delhi, May 8: The Visakhapatnam gas leak from a chemical pland needs to be fully investigated by local authorities, the UN said on Friday. "We obviously send our condolences to the victims and hope for quick recovery to those who have been impacted.", noted spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

 

 

This is probably a day after Home Minister Amit Shah described the gas leak at a chemical plant in Andhra Pradesh as disturbing and said the central government was closely monitoring the situation. "The incident in Vizag is disturbing. Have spoken to the NDMA officials and concerned authorities. We are continuously and closely monitoring the situation," Shah tweeted. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy spoke to Andhra Pradesh's chief secretary and director general of police and took stock of the situation.

 

Reddy instructed teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to provide necessary assistance to the victims. "I am continuously monitoring the situation. Hundreds of people have also been affected in the unprecedented and unfortunate event in Visakhapatnam, AP," he noted.

 

Cries for help broke the silence when gas leaked from a chemical plant in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Thursday and quickly spread to villages in a five-kilometre radius, killing at least 11 people and impacting about 1,000, many collapsing to the ground as they tried to escape the toxic vapours.

 

Hours after the styrene gas leak around 2.30 am from the multinational L G Polymers Plant at RR Venkatapuram village, scores of people could be seen lying unconscious on sidewalks, near ditches and on the road, raising fears of a major industrial disaster. Among the dead were two children, aged six and nine, a first year medical student and two people who fell into a well while fleeing the vapours from the plant, getting ready to reopen after the lockdown.