Gas leak in Surat factory; 1 dies, 7 ill

One person choked to death and seven others fainted because of leakage of gas at a chemical unit in Sachin GIDC area in Surat. The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday. The seven workers who fainted are admitted to a private hospital in the city where the condition of two is said to be critical.

The incident took place at Anupam Chemical Industries located on plot no. 7010, road no.2 in Sachin GIDC. Eight workers were working at the boiler of the factory when, because of increased pressure inside the vessel, gas began to leak. Before the workers could understand what was happening and call for help, all of them fainted and fell down. Workers in the adjoining section of the factory rushed to the spot and immediately took the affected workers to a nearby private hospital.

One of the eight workers identified as Sanjeev Kharche, 26, died. The other seven workers are admitted in the intensive care (ICU) unit of the hospital. They have been identified as Devram Shirde, Rajendra Singh, Nandlal Singh, Sharad More, Eknath Sonwane, Vinod Virani and Maghe Singh.

Sources said that the company officials are yet to inform the district administration about the entire incident. There is no information on what chemical the factory was manufacturing.
Sachin police has registered a case regarding the incident and are investigating the matter. The company officials could not be contacted for their comments despite several attempts.