One person died and more than 35 people were injured after an ammonia gas cylinder leaked at a dairy in Bihar’s Vaishali district late on June 24.
The incident happened at the Raj Fresh Dairy in Hajipur at night, setting off a stampede-like situation due to which many people got injured and were hospitalised at the government-run Sadar Hospital and private nursing homes.
The person who died has been identified as a labourer of dairy. However, the cause of gas leak has not been determined yet. Preliminary investigation suggested that the incident happened due to the factory’s negligence.
According to an eyewitness, ammonia leaked from the dairy and spread for about four kilometres due to which people started having difficulty in breathing.
The gas had spread from Rajput Colony to Paswan Chowk, and Nagar police station as well. The district administration claimed that the leak was controlled within 15 to 20 minutes.
A team of fire brigade had also reached the spot along with the Quick Response Team (QRT) from Patna.
Vaishali District Magistrate Jaspal Meena, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ravi Ranjan Kumar and all the senior officers of the district reached the dairy.
Civil surgeon Dr. Shyam Nandan Prasad said that a team of doctors were deployed at the Sadar Hospital.
As of now it is not known how many people were present in the factory at the time of the incident but the administration has claimed that everything is under control. Most of the people who were hospitalised were either passers-by or people living in the vicinity.
