Vaishali (Bihar): One person died due to a gas leak in a dairy factory in Hajipur, headquarters of the Vaishali district, Bihar, on Saturday night, while more than 100 people have fallen ill. Out of these, 35 people are being treated at Sadar Hospital, while the rest have been admitted to different private nursing homes. The ammonia gas leaked from the factory spread to the surrounding areas up to over four kilometres radius.
The identity of the person who died in this accident has not been known yet. The deceased person used to work at Raj Fresh Dairy, sources said. The local administration and the police rushed to the spot. Rescue operations are underway and an investigation has begun into the cause of the incident. Dozens of people living in the area became ill and people started having trouble breathing due to the bad smell of the gas.
The hazardous gas spread from Rajput Colony to the town police station. Due to this, more than 100 people living in the colonies there fell ill. The administration has claimed that the gas leak was brought under control within 15 to 20 minutes. Apart from the local administration, the team of the fire brigade as well as the team of QRT (quick response team) from Patna arrived at the factory and are trying to salvage the situation.
As soon as the information about the incident was received, Vaishali DM Jaspal Meena, Vaishali SP Ravi Ranjan Kumar and all the senior officers of the district reached the Raj Fresh Factory located in the Hajipur Industrial Police Station area. They initiated rescue operations.
The team Fire Brigade used 3 fire engines to sprinkle water at the affected areas till late at night to reduce the effect of ammonia gas. There was chaos in the city of Hajipur the whole night. Victims narrated harrowing stories of their woes in the gas tragedy.
"We felt difficulty in breathing and hands and legs were trembling. We were eating food on the verandah at that time. At first, the smell was not detected. When the smell increased, there was difficulty in breathing, and then our health problems increased. We came to the hospital. My house is in Rajput Colony near Paswan Chowk, we were at our home at that time", said Sakshi Kumari, a girl who fell sick after inhaling gas.
"We were cooking food at that time and we were in the vicinity of the company. Gas burst in the milk factory and white smoke came out. Our condition worsened. We ran away from there, we were out of breath," recalled Ranjit Shah, another survivor.
It was told that a stampede had occurred due to the gas leak, in which many people had suffered partial injuries. Apart from Hajipur Sadar Hospital, treatment of ill people is going on in a dozen private nursing homes there, as well as more than a dozen people have gone to Patna for better treatment. Civil surgeon Dr Shyam Nandan Prasad said that a team of doctors is deployed in Sadar Hospital and all the people admitted to the hospital are almost fine but one person has died.
It is not known yet how many people were present in the factory at the time of the incident and what is their condition. But the administration has claimed that everything is under control. “Raj Fresh, which manufactures dairy products, had a gas leak in its ammonia cylinder. We are taking all precautionary measures. Some workers were in an unconscious condition. Fire engines are working continuously," said Dr Ashok Kumar, DSP firefighters team.
"Around 35 patients have come due to the blast of ammonia gas cylinder in Raj Milk Plant. They complained of difficulty in breathing. Those inhaling more gas will take some time to recover. Six doctors are made available to provide treatment. Oxygen is ready and medicines are there" - Dr Shyamanandan Prasad, Civil Surgeon, Vaishali.
