4 die after inhaling toxic gas at chemical plant in Gujarat's Bharuch

Four workers died after inhaling toxic fumes following a gas leak at a chemical plant at Dahej in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, police said on Sunday.

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The company said all four were given immediate medical care but could not be saved. It has announced Rs 30 lakh ex gratia to the kin of each victim.

A company employee and three contractual workers fell unconscious after poisonous fumes leaked from a pipe at a production unit of the Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFL) on Saturday night, Dahej police station inspector BM Patidar said.

They were rushed to a private hospital where all four of them died, he said.

The bodies were sent for postmortem and further probe into the incident was underway, the official said.

The deceased have been identified as Rajesh Kumar Maganadiya (48), (hailing from Bharuch), Mudrika Yadav (29) (from Adhaura in Jharkhand), Suchit Prasad (39) and Mahesh Nandlal (25) (both from Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh), police said.

In a media statement, GFL said the incident occurred around 8 pm on Saturday and the gas leak was “immediately detected and contained by the team”.

“However, (four) individuals in the windward direction experienced adverse health effects and were promptly given due primary treatment at our onsite Occupational Health Center. They were referred to Bharuch Hospital for advanced medical care. Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, the four individuals succumbed to complications,” it said.

The company will pay an ex gratia of Rs 30 lakh to the family of each deceased person along with full settlement of their statutory dues, insurance benefits, and pending salaries, it said.

The company has offered a job to the ward of the deceased employee and said it will sponsor his education, including his engineering studies, the statement said.

GFL said its team is working closely with the authorities and is fully committed to implementing all corrective and preventive measures.

Bharuch Sub-Divisional Magistrate Manisha Manani said three of the deceased were from other states.

“Four persons died due to gas leakage at the GFL plant near Ambeta village. The bodies have been sent to the civil hospital in Bharuch for post-mortem and an investigation is underway,” Manani said.