Five persons, including a six-year-old girl died and scores of others were admitted to the 30-bed Government Hospital at Gopalapatnam and the King George Hospital (KGH), following leakage of a poisonous gas from the Hindustan Polymers plant at RR Venkatapuram, Gopalapatnam, here, on Thursday.
The death toll was confirmed by the Principal of Andhra Medical College P.V. Sudhakar and GVMC Commissioner S. Srijana.
Prof. Sudhakar said the death toll might increase and hourly monitoring of the patients admitted is being done.
Rude awakening
Utter chaos prevailed at Gopalapatnam and surrounding areas of the city following the gas leak, which is said to have occurred around 2.30 a.m. on Thursday. Many residents started feeling suffocated but were at a loss to understand what was happening. While some rushed out of their houses, others closed their windows to prevent the gas from entering their homes.
On getting information, police and district officials rushed to the spot. The police went around the area in jeeps and asked people to come out of their homes and move away to safer places. Those who fainted or turned sick were rushed to the nearby Gopalapatnam Hospital and the KGH for treatment. All the beds at the Gopalapatnam Hospital were full. “We are giving them I.V. fluids and monitoring their condition,” said Dr. Sujatha of Gopalapatnam Hospital.
VMRDA Chairman Dronamraju Srinivas said Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the authorities to rush the affected-persons to nearby private and corporate hospitals apart from the KGH.
It was learnt that 2,000 residents have been affected by the leakage and around 5,000 people were evacuated to safer places.
Prof. Sudhakar confirmed that about 100 have been admitted at KGH and around 200 in other hospitals. “About 85 per cent are stable, but the remaining are serious,” he said.
Styrene gas affects CNS
According to him, Styrene gas affects the central nervous system and oxygen flow to the brain gets reduced.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the Gopalapatnam Hospital. A little girl, aged around five years, was lying on a bed. “Someone brought her and left her on this bed. When she came here she was almost out of her breath. We managed to rescue her. Neither her parents or relatives are here,” said a doctor, who was attending on her.
Some patients were seen lying on the floor at the reception and others on the cement benches outside the hospital as all the beds were full. A little boy was lying on a stretcher as his relatives sat around him. A mother was crying unconsolably as her son was being treated.
