Two women died during treatment after a suspected ammonia leak at a private shrimp processing plant in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district on Sunday, police said.
In all, 59 workers were shifted to various hospitals in Chennai and Tiruvallur district soon after the incident, KG Arunraj, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said.
According to Tiruvallur police, a first information report was lodged and two people – the owners of the unit – were arrested.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the bereaved family members and wished a speedy recovery to those hospitalized. Modi said, according to an official statement: “I am deeply pained to hear about the loss of lives due to an unfortunate accident in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu state. I offer my condolences to those who lost their loved ones. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay extended his deep condolences to the families of the two women. “I have ordered your release $2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s General Relief Fund. “Furthermore, I ordered that necessary steps be taken at government expense to transport their mortal remains to their place of origin for final rites.”
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Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlikar also expressed his condolences to the bereaved families.
The Prime Minister also ordered the formation of a three-member committee to probe the incident and directed R Kumar, Minister for IT and Digital Services, along with probation officer KP Karthikeyan, to supervise the relief operations in coordination with District Collector S Kavitha, government officials familiar with the matter said.
The incident occurred at around 10 am on Sunday after a leak occurred at the St Peter’s Paul Seafoods Exports facility in Kannigaipair village near Periyapalayam, Gummidipoondi MLA S Vijayakumar told HT.
“Initial investigations revealed that the cooler used to store shrimp started leaking this morning,” Minister Kumar said.
Minister Arunraj said that at the time of the incident, the employees were resting in an adjoining room as it was on Sunday. He added that after the gas leak, they were taken to Venkateswara Hospital for treatment.
Replying to a query, Arunraj said: “The Prime Minister said that industries using hazardous chemicals should get permission properly and ordered a review of the time periods within which their licenses should be renewed. For this purpose, the Industrial Safety Department has been directed to maintain additional surveillance on industries using highly toxic chemicals.”
Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Minister R Kumar said: Preliminary investigations revealed that the cooler used to store prawns started leaking this morning.
“We have arrested two people who own the unit. An FIR has been lodged,” he added.
Despite repeated attempts, Hizb ut-Tahrir did not obtain comments from a senior official at the private shrimp processing unit.
