LUDHIANA: 11 people died and several were taken ill after a gas leak incident in the Giaspura area in this Punjab district on Sunday, police said.
The source of the leakage and the type of the gas are yet to be ascertained, police said, adding that the area has been sealed while a fire brigade and an ambulance have been deployed there.
A 50-member team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also reached the site.
Police said the casualties comprise five females and six males. Two boys aged 10 and 13 are among the 11 who died in the incident, they said.
An NDRF official said it was yet to be found which gas caused the deaths.
"We will check it first then we will let you know," the official said in a response to a query.
As it was a thickly-populated area, the immediate priority was to evacuate people from the place, the official further said.
The source of the leakage and the type of the gas are yet to be ascertained, they added.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the incident was very painful and added that all possible help is being provided.
"The incident of a gas leak in the Giaspura area of Ludhiana is very painful. Teams of police, district administration and NDRF are present on the spot. Every possible help is being provided..," Mann said in a tweet in Punjabi.
Anjan Kumar, whose family members have died in the incident, said, "This was a poisonous gas leak. Three of the bodies have turned blue," while another local resident said that five members of her family members remain unconscious.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)