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South Mumbai Chlorine Gas Leak : 75 people hospitalised
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 in the morning. The leak was contained six hours later, at 9 am.
The gas caused acute respiratory distress. Ninety-two people were affected, 78 are still in hospital, eight of them are critically ill in intensive care. Among those in hospital are 14 students of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Maritime College. The victims have been admitted to the JJ Hospital and KEM Hospital.
“My nephew has been admitted to JJ hospital’s ICU after he complained of chest pain. We are waiting for the news of his well-being,” said Ibrahim Daud, whose nephew is one of the victims.
This area in south Mumbai is sparsely populated, so there were fewer victims than if it had happened in any other part of the Metro.
The gas began leaking at about 3.15 am, but was detected close to 4 in the morning. The fire brigade was called in and fire-fighters sanitised the area. Some of the firemen were affected too.
“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.
As a precautionary measure, people residing in and around the area have been evacuated. To ensure that the leak did not spread to other areas, the firemen made a “water curtain” and pushed it towards the sea.
So what did happen at 3.15 am as Mumbai slept?
Rahul Asthana, Deputy Chairman of the Mumbai Port Trust explained, “This cylinder containing chloride had to be auctioned off for a long time. An empty cylinder of chlorine…but sometimes you have residual chlorine that remains in the cylinder and that is what leaked out. It didn’t leak from the valve but from the bottom of the cylinder as a result of which the chlorine leaked into the atmosphere.’
Asthana said the situation was under control: “We procured Sodium...