Skip to main content

Featured post

Online sales can generate 780,000 service opportunities in Pakistan.

India gas leak: At least 13 dead after Visakhapatnam incident

At least 13 people have been killed by a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in southern India, with 800 others taken to hospital.
The leak from the LG Polymers plant in the city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state came as people slept.
Doctors say patients have been complaining of a burning sensation in the eyes and difficulties breathing.
Areas around the plant have been evacuated. The leak may have been due to negligence, officials say.
Reports suggest initial attempts to control the gas leak were unsuccessful but the company and state officials say the situation is now under control.
LG said in a statement it was investigating the cause of the incident, and was looking at ways "to provide speedy treatment" for those affected.
Rajendra Reddy, a senior official in the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, told the BBC that the leaked gas was styrene, which is usually refrigerated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called an emergency disaster meeting.

My eyes were itchy.

The leak took place at around 03:00 local time (21:30 GMT Wednesday) as the plant was being re-opened for the first time since 24 March, when India went into lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.
"All those who have been hospitalised are currently stable," BK Naik, a local health official, told Reuters news agency. Doctors say 86 patients are being treated on ventilators, but many injured have been discharged.
Legal action is being taken against the company, says state Industries Minister Goutam Reddy. Earlier, he told BBC Telugu that it looked as though proper procedures and guidelines were not followed when the South Korean-owned plant was being re-opened.
"We would like the company to proactively respond to the incident and ensure that the same level of responsibility is taken if this incident were to happen in EU or United States," he said, adding that the incident had been reported to the Korean embassy.

Swaroop Rani, a senior police official in Visakhapatnam, told AFP that the plant had been left idle because of the lockdown.
"[The gas] was left there because of the lockdown. It led to a chemical reaction and heat was produced inside the tanks, and the gas leaked because of that."
Local villagers complained around 03:30 and police immediately went to the scene, but had to quickly retreat for fear of being poisoned, the news agency quoted her as saying.
"One could feel the gas in the air and it was not possible for any of us to stay there for more than a few minutes," she said.

As the gas spread, residents ran out of their homes in panic. Distressing images of people fainting and dropping unconscious on the streets are being shared on social media.
"My eyes were itchy, and I was feeling drowsy, light-headed and slightly breathless," Yashwanth Saikumar Ambati, who lives about 300 metres from the plant, told Reuters.
Officials said the fumes had spread over a radius of about 3km (2 miles) and people from surrounding areas were evacuated.
Although a large number have been admitted to hospital, most should be able to make a recovery, they added.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Punjab Assembly deputy speaker tests positive for coronavirus

LAHORE - Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Mazari tested positive for corona-virus as total cases surged to 29,465 in Pakistan.  Mazari said that he took test from a private laboratory and it came back negative but the result of public lab showed him corona-virus positive.  "Apparently I had developed no symptoms," he said, adding that he will take another test after few days. Mazari has self-isolated himself. The number of corona-virus cases in Pakistan rose to a total of 29,465 on Sunday, according to government data. The death toll related to COVID-19 has reached 639, according to the National Command and Control Center, while at least 8,023 patients have fully recovered. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported highest number of deaths, a total of 234, while Punjab and Sindh follow with 192 and 180 fatalities respectively. Balochistan has so far recorded 24 deaths; Islamabad, 4' and Gilgit Baltistan, 3. The first two fatalities from COVID-19, as the illn...

NCC meeting will decide future of lockdown this week

ISLAMABAD - Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Asad Umar on Sunday said the National Coordination Committee on Corona-virus would decide about the future course of lock-down after analysis and observations to be presented by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The meeting would be held this week with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, to decide the post-May, 9 scenarios in the country. Addressing a televised press briefing here, Asad Umar said the NCOC would share all its analysis about corona-virus in the meeting of NCC. “We do not follow the West blindly and the future decisions would also be taken according to our own ground realities,” he remarked. He said keeping in view the growing number of deaths in the country, the people should adopt strict protective measures against COVID-19. He said for the last six days, on average, 24 people were dying of the disease daily but still, the disease had not proven to be as chronic as in Europe and the ...

Pakistan’s first real-time Online Shopping Search engine launched by GIK Students to enable shopping during lockdown

The world is highly fascinated by the technology, but the question that arises here is, who have these creative minds to advance the technology and use it for making the lives easy? These are the people among us who come us with thrilling innovative ideas, and that makes the lives go smooth, feasible, and flexible for all. Pakistan being a developing country, has currently become a cruel victim of contagious corona-virus, whereas people due to fear of this infectious virus are quarantined. Daily activities are deprived due to the lock-down in the country, whereas everyone is isolated. In this horrendous situation, nobody is ready to risk life to go outside from homestead. Everyone is concerned about getting their valuable goods online. Being at home throughout the day has made everyone use technology either by using smartphones or laptops. People are more interested in knowing about different brands and searching for their valuable products from different sites. But isn't it time...