Seven women died during treatment on Sunday after being affected in a major ammonia gas leak at a private seafood processing unit in Manjangaranai near Periyapalayam, police said.
A total of 67 affected workers were rushed to local medical centres immediately, Thiruvallur District Collector S Kavitha said.
According to her, 46 are being treated at Vels Hospital and 21 at Venkateshwara Hospital. Nine of the most critically ill patients have since been mobilised via ambulances to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai.
A senior treating doctor from a private hospital told reporters that the affected workers are quite young, mostly women aged between 24 and 25 years.
“They are alive, and we can monitor their pulse and blood pressure, though their blood pressure is currently tracking quite low. Because they are young, we are optimistic they will recover. We are also arranging to shift four to five of the more critical patients to a government facility for advanced care," the doctor added.
DC Kavitha visited the factory site and met with patients at the hospitals to oversee relief measures. A formal investigation has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the valve failure and to probe potential safety lapses at the export unit.
