Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu): In an alarming development, more than 30 women workers passed out after an ammonia gas cylinder exploded at a private fish processing unit in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi on Friday night, an official said.
The incident took place at the private food processing unit operating in Tuticorin Putur Pandiyapuram area which processes fish and exports it abroad. More than 500 women from different parts of Tamil Nadu and other states work at the fish processing unit.
Sources said that at around 11 o'clock in the night, an ammonia gas cylinder exploded due to an electrical accident in the plant. Due to the gas cylinder explosion, the ammonia gas spread throughout the fish processing plant. The women workers fainted after inhaling the ammonia gas. Among the victims, five women from Kumbakonam area of Tamil Nadu and 16 women from Odisha state suffered from suffocation and eye irritation and fainted.
The victims were admitted to two private hospitals in Thoothukudi. After receiving a distress call, the puthiyambuthur police rushed to the spot and launched an investigation into the incident. The cause of the gas cylinder explosion was not immediately known. Further proceedings into the case are going on.
It can be recalled that a similar incident was reported from Ennore facility of Coromandel International Ltd, a fertiliser manufacturing company in December last year. In the mishap, over 10 people were hospitalised after ammonia gas leaked from the facility prompting the state government to temporarily shut down the plant as a precautionary measure.
