Seven workers fell sick after inhaling a poisonous gas at a paper mill in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district on Thursday, PTI reported. The incident came on the same day when at least 11 people died and thousands were exposed after styrene gas leaked in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam city.
Raigarh Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh said the incident took place at Shakti Paper Mill in Tetla village, where the victims were cleaning an open tank. Three of them are in critical condition, Singh added, according to ANI.
“The interrogation of the mill owner is underway,” Singh said. “The incident was reported in the early hours of Thursday.”
The owner reportedly did not inform the administration about the gas leak. It came to light after hospital authorities alerted the police.
State Health Minister TS Singh Deo wished the victims a speedy recovery.
A team of forensic experts have been sent to investigate the exact cause of the incident, Singh said, adding that a case will be registered soon.
An unidentified official told PTI that the paper mill was shut since the nationwide lockdown was enforced last month and cleaning was underway to resume operations.
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