CHENNAI: At least two people were killed and 62 others fell ill after an ammonia leak at a seafood export firm at Kannigaipair near Periyapalayam in Tiruvallur district on Sunday morning. The death toll is expected to go up as several of those in hospital are on ventilators.The leak occurred at the unit’s ammonia plant, located about 50 metres from the workers’ accommodation on the factory premises. As it was a Sunday, the workers were resting in their rooms when the gas spread through the area, causing breathing difficulties and discomfort. A few passers-by heard the commotion and cries of the workers and alerted the police.The main ammonia storage facility was located on the ground floor and the leak was suspected to be from a nozzle on a pipeline carrying the gas to the first floor. “We carried out water-washing operations to neutralise any remaining traces of ammonia, and the gas did not spread to residential areas surrounding the factory,” said an official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). A specialised chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) team of the NDRF was deployed to assist local authoritiesIn all, 64 workers — 60 women and four men — were exposed to the leak, officials said. Fifteen are under observation at Stanley Government Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, while 48 others have been admitted to two private hospitals. Among them, two women identified as Jumani Juang, 19, and Malothi, 20, both natives of Odisha, died. Their bodies were kept at the Tiruvallur Government Hospital for postmortem. About 130 unaffected workers were shifted to a marriage hall in Kannigaipair, where food, drinking water and medical monitoring arrangements have been made.Ammonia, widely used in industrial refrigeration and seafood processing, causes severe respiratory distress and other health complications when inhaled in high concentrations. Health Minister E Arunraj said experts detected around 300 ppm of ammonia in the air at the unit. “Such high levels have severely affected the workers, most of whom are women,” he said.Following the incident, authorities secured the affected zone and initiated measures to prevent further exposure while technical experts worked to determine the source of the leak. NDRF officials who entered the workers’ hostel said the dormitory bore signs of a frantic evacuation, with clothes, luggage and personal belongings scattered across the rooms, suggesting that many workers attempted to gather their possessions before fleeing the gas leak.Periyapalayam police registered a case on the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and took into custody the firm’s owners, brothers Mohan and Joseph, for inquiry. They were later arrested in connection with the incident.Tiruvallur Collector S Kavitha told TOI that the firm possessed the required licences and that a government-appointed committee had begun an inquiry into the cause of the leak.Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund to the families of the deceased and said the govt would bear the cost of transporting the bodies to Odisha for the last rites.The chief minister ordered a joint investigation by the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health, the Public Health Department and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. A three-member committee comprising the Director of Industrial Safety and Health, the Member Secretary of the Pollution Control Board and the Additional Director of Public Health has been constituted to submit a preliminary report within 24 hours and a detailed report within three days.He also directed officials to ensure specialised treatment for the injured workers and initiate compensation proceedings under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme and the Workmen Compensation Act.In the wake of the accident, the chief minister ordered immediate inspections of hazardous industrial units across Tamil Nadu to identify potential safety lapses and prevent similar incidents.
