As many as seven workers fell ill after inhaling poisonous gas while cleaning an open tank at a paper mill in the Raigarh district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said on Thursday.
According to law enforcement, the incident took place at the Shakti Paper Mill located in Tetla village late on Wednesday night. An initial investigation has revealed that the men were affected by methane, a carbon heavy gas, which was trapped in the paper tank.
“The victims were cleaning an open taken filled with paper waste at the Shakti Paper Mill and fell unconscious after inhaling the poisonous gas. They were rushed to a nearby hospital. Three of them had to be referred to Raipur government hospital and one is said to be critical”, said Santosh Singh, superintendent of Police, Raigarh district.
Officials stated that the cleaning was being done as the plant was about to reopen after being shut since the lockdown was imposed on 24 March.
A police official also stated that the owner had tried to hide the incident and that the hospital authorities revealed it.
“Legal action will be taken against the mill owner", the official said.
Earlier in the day, while briefing the media in New Delhi, an Indian Home Ministry official said that all factories and industries are supposed to follow the provided guidelines while resuming operations after the lockdown.
In another unfortunate incident on Thursday, some 11 people lost their lives and around 2,000 were hospitalised due to a gas leak at a polymers factory in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The factory belonged to South Korean multinational corporation LG. The National and State Disaster Response Force was deployed to carry out rescue operations and evacuate people.