Visakhapatnam: At least two people were killed and four were
hospitalised after a gas leak at an industrial unit in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Tuesday. The gas, believed to be benzimidazole,has a variety of therapeutic uses and is also used in neurology, endocrinology, and ophthalmology.
The dead were identified as night shift in-charge Ragi Narendra and chemist Gowri Shankar. The bodies were shifted to King George Hospital. The injured are LV Chendra Sekhar, 37, P Anand Babu, 41, D Janakiram,24, and M Surya Narayana, 29.
After the gas leak, the management of Sainor Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, which owns the unit, briefed the district collector and the commissioner of police. Police personnel were deployed at the site to prevent any untoward incidents.
A similar incident took place at the same unit on September 28, 2015, in which two persons were killed and four were injured. Incidentally, there have been 25 serious industrial accidents in Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City since 2013, killing 23 and seriously injuring 73.
