Minuscule technical leak at Vizag factory; situation under control: Officials

A “minuscule technical leak” had occurred at the chemical factory in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam where styrene gas leaked in the early hours of Thursday but it was controlled and the process of neutralisation is on, officials said on Friday (May 8).

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) are on the ground to support the local administration.

A Union home ministry official said media reports stated that there was a second gas leak at the Visakhapatnam factory late on Thursday night. “It is clarified that this was a minuscule technical leak. It is required to bring the container in control. It has been controlled and the process of neutralisation is already underway. The situation is under control,” the official said.

The teams of NDRF and NEERI are on the ground to support the local administration, according to the official. The Centre on Thursday said 11 people died and 1,000 were exposed to the gas leak at the chemical factory. At least 25 people are in a critical condition after being exposed to the gas, officials had said.