CHENNAI: The death toll in the ammonia leak at St Peter & Paul Sea Foods Exports, a seafood processing and export unit near Periyapalayam in Tiruvallur district, rose to five on Monday, with three more workers succumbing overnight.
According to the Health and Family Welfare Department, two workers died by Sunday night, while three others died on Monday morning. Of the 74 people exposed to the toxic gas, 67 remain under treatment, and two have been discharged.
Those exposed reported breathlessness, eye and respiratory tract irritation, coughing, chest discomfort, and varying degrees of respiratory distress. The cause of the leak is under investigation.
The workers, most of them young women aged 19–20 and hailing from Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, and West Bengal, were off duty and resting in their hostel rooms about 50 metres from the unit’s ammonia plant when the leak occurred around 11 am.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), roped in by the Tamil Nadu government to carry out rescue operations, said the gas had spread to the workers’ accommodation, causing breathing difficulties and discomfort.
About 130 workers from the unit, who were not affected by the leak, were shifted to the Govinda Bhavanam marriage hall in Kannigaipair, where food and drinking water were arranged.
The ammonia gas leak occurred around 11 am on Sunday at the seafood export unit, spreading to the workers’ accommodation.
Health Minister K. G. Arunraj said that experts had reported a high level of ammonia, around 300 ppm, in the air at the plant.
Police have registered a case under Sections 105 and 125(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Unit owners Mohan and Joseph were detained for inquiry.
The bodies of the two victims have been kept at the Tiruvallur Government Hospital for post-mortem.
The Chief Minister said that measures would be taken to send the victims’ remains to their homes in Odisha for the final rites.