One person died on the spot and four others were affected by an ammonia gas leak from a pipeline at SPY Agro Industries Limited at Nandyal in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
Fire tenders controlled the gas leak after struggling for three hours.
The deceased was identified as Srinivasa Rao, 50, manager of the factory. The four other workers who inhaled the gas were safe, Collector G. Veerapandian said. They were identified as Thimma Reddy, Tirumala, Ravi and Adinarayana.
The incident took place between 9.45 a.m. and 10 a.m. when they were restarting the factory after maintenance. Immediately all the persons working on the factory premises were evacuated.
The Collector said the fire-fighting personnel were controlling the leak and there was no need for panic.
The gas came out due to a blast in a high-pressure pipeline, and it was controlled immediately. There was no danger to others, he said, urging the people in the vicinity to remain indoors and wash their face and eyes with cold water if they felt any irritation.
Mr. Veerapandian said the manager could not rush out of the factory after inhaling the gas, while the others managed to come out and were safe. He presented the four affected workers before the media.
After the LG Polymers gas leak incident in Visakhapatnam, the Collector constituted a committee with the Inspector of Factories, Electricity Department, and the AP Pollution Control Board officials to check for the likely hotspots for such gas leak incidents and take precautionary measures.
Superintendent of Police Fakkeerappa Kaginelli, Nandyal MP Pocha Bhrahmananda Reddy, Nandyal MLA Shilpa Ravichandra Kishore Reddy and Joint Collector Ravi Pattan Shetty inspected the factory.
