Over 200 ill after gas leak near India's Bhopal
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-10-15 17:17 RAIPUR, India - About 200
people were admitted to hospitals with severe breathing problems after an
unknown gas leaked from an industrial plant near Bhopal in central India,
officials said on Sunday.
The accident occurred late on Saturday in Raisen district, which lies
adjacent to Bhopal where more than 3,500 people died in December 1984 after gas
leaked from an Union Carbide pesticide plant into the city's atmosphere.
"People are complaining of severe breathing problems and many are complaining
of itching in their eyes," Arun Kumar Bhatt, Raisen's district collector, told
Reuters by phone on Sunday.
Officials said Saturday's leak was not even remotely as serious as the Bhopal
tragedy nearly 22 years ago and that the state government reacted quickly by
rushing people to hospitals.
Authorities in Raisen were trying to find out whether the leaked gas was
ammonia or chlorine.
The victims would be discharged from hospitals in a few days, officials said,
adding the government was trying to identify the plant responsible for the gas
leak.
Bhopal has been witness to several toxic gas leaks in the past including in
2001 when three workers at an oil recycling plant died after inhaling
fumes.
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