CHENNAI: The death toll in the ammonia gas leak at St Peter & Paul Seafood Export Private Limited in Tiruvallur district on June 21 climbed to 18 following the demise of one more migrant worker late on Thursday night.
The deceased has been identified as Rohani Juanga (23), a native of Odisha, undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai.
Meanwhile, the Tiruvallur district revenue authorities, on Friday, began evacuating the remaining ammonia gas from the plant. A revenue official told the TNIE the remaining ammonia gas at the plant, estimated to be around 1.5 tonnes, will be removed with the help of experts from private chemical and gas companies.
He said, “Within the demarcated area, there is no house, school or other habitation. There are only seven industries, and we have spoken to the those managements and asked them to remain closed on Saturday and Sunday. No employee should be working inside. Apart from this, we have gone around houses and other places outside the demarcated area and asked the residents to stay indoors and not come near the area.”
As a precaution, a 500 metre radius around the seafood processing plant has been declared as restricted zone. People within 300 metre radius were evacuated by Friday evening, and traffic diversions will be in place on NH 716 on July 4 and 5 during the ammonia removal operation.