Gas leak in Mumbai leaves over 100 ill

Over 100 people have been hospitalised due to a gas leak at a cart shed in the Mumbai Port Trust(MPT) premises adjoining the Haji Bunder fire station.

The condition of seven people is critical, officials said, after 500 people were evacuated from the area.

Kailash Laxman Mane, police officer at Sewree Police station, said that the situation is currently under control and the fire brigade officials are inspecting the entire area. Entry has been prohibited around the spot of leakage.

MPT premises where the leak took place. PIC/Rohan Koli

IMU students were evacuated due to the leak. Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi

An IMU nautical engineering student said, "We were woken up by the fire brigade in the middle of the night.

Around 10 students have been taken to JJ and BPT hospitals. There was a strong pungent smell in the air, and we were instructed to cover our faces when we came out. Many of us complained of nausea and uneasiness."

Another student, Deepak Agarwal, from IMU Hostel said, "We were sleeping in the hostel when few students started complaining about a foul smell, we ran downstairs and informed the watchman. Soon there was a white smog in the air and the hostel was evacuated within half an hour."
"We are told by the college staff to stay outside the college premises until further order," added Agarwal.
Manas Kumar Rai from Lucknow a student at the IMU Hostel said, "We heard an explosion at around 2:15 am after which the students were told to run down stairs."
"During a mishap of this kind, colleges must provide masks, and should also have emergency fire alarms. Instead, our college just evacuated us without providing alternative shelter," added Rai.
Rai praised the police and the fire brigade for rescuing the students from the building and also taking the unwell to the hospital
Magina Das an employee at the Port trust said, "The gas cylinder was lying from last 15 years and no one took any note of it."
Mohan Kalyan, another employee said, "Our life is always in danger as we don't have any security. Such incidents are frequent here. Since a college is affected this time, the incident has got media attention.
"There is no insurance for our life," he added.

H A Malik, a Mumbai Fire Brigade officer, said, "We responded to the complaint immediately and sent a group of firemen to evacuate the hostel along with ambulances. The MPT fire station is not equipped to handle a situation like this. The yard near the IMU usually stores hazardous chemicals containers. We believe the leaked chemical was liquid chlorine. We can't do much about it as it may only aggravate the situation, and raise the risk factor. Given a few hours, the gas will disperse by itself. We have asked the students to keep out of the hostel premises for at least two hours.

"We have divided ourselves in two groups. While the first group is checking for chemical content in the air, the other is looking for any casualties and warning people to keep off the area.

Officials from the Haji Bunder fire station, which is managed by the MPT, refused to comment.

source:midday