Five people, including a six-year-old girl, died and scores of others were admitted to the 30-bed government hospital at Gopalapatnam and the King George Hospital, following the leakage of poisonous gas from the Hindustan Polymers plant...

...Many residents started feeling suffocated but were at a loss to understand what was happening. While some rushed out of their houses, others closed their windows to prevent the gas from entering their homes.

On getting information, the police and district officials rushed to the spot. The police went around the area in jeeps and asked the people to come out of their houses and move to safer places. Those who fainted or felt sick were rushed to the nearby Gopalapatnam Hospital and the KGH for treatment...

...It was learnt that 2,000 residents have been affected by the leakage and around 5,000 people were evacuated to safer places.

Prof. Sudhakar confirmed that about 100 have been admitted at KGH and around 200 in other hospitals. “About 85% are stable, but the remaining are serious,” he said.

According to him, Styrene gas affects the central nervous system and the flow of oxygen to the brain reduces.

Some of the patients were seen lying on the floor at the reception and others on the cement benches outside the hospital as all the beds were full. A little boy was lying on a stretcher as his relatives sat around him. A mother was crying inconsolably as her son was being treated.