Thiruvallur: Seven women died during treatment on Sunday after being affected by a major ammonia gas leak at a private seafood processing unit in Manjangaranai near Periyapalayam, police said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay ordered a probe into the incident. A three-member committee, comprising the Director of Industrial Safety and Health, the Member Secretary of the Pollution Control Board, and the Additional Director of Public Health, has been formed to submit an interim report within 24 hours and a final report within three days.
A total of 67 affected workers were rushed to local medical centres immediately, Thiruvallur District Collector S Kavitha said.
According to her, 46 are being treated at Vels Hospital and 21 at Venkateshwara Hospital. Nine of the most critically ill patients have since been shifted by ambulance to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai.
A senior doctor at one of the private hospitals confirmed to reporters that several patients remain critical.
"We admitted 44 patients in total, comprising 43 young women and one man. Out of these, we have intubated 15 to 16 patients, and 11 are currently on ventilator support," the doctor told reporters.
The doctor noted that the affected workers are quite young, mostly women aged between 24 and 25 years.
DC Kavitha visited the factory site and met the patients at the hospitals to oversee relief measures. A formal investigation has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the valve failure and to probe potential safety lapses at the export unit.
