Chlorine gas leak in Mumbai, 59 people rushed to hospital

PTI

Mumbai, 14 July 2010:  Fifty nine people have been rushed to hospital in Mumbai after chlorine gas leaked from a cylinder in a container parked in the Mumbai Port. The condition of six of them is said to be serious. They have been put in the cardiac intensive care. Fourteen students from the Lal Bahadur Shastri College are also among the 59 affected. They have been admitted to Mumbai’s JJ Hospital.

 

 

The gas leak has been contained now. But there was panic when the leak was detected close to 4 am in the morning. Four fire fighters were sent to the spot to sanitize the area. Authorities are at the spot too examining what went wrong. "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, the official said. Chlorine gas is a respiratory irritant. It causes eye irritation as well as nausea, vomiting, dizziness and headache.  If exposed a long period of time and in strong concentration, it may lead to restlessness, throat irritation and excess salivation. If a person is trapped for a long period in a high chlorine concentration atmosphere, loss of consciousness and possibly death can happen.