In what we can call a day of terrors, chemical styrene gas from two 5000 tonne tanks was leaked from LG Polymers' manufacturing unit which is situated at RR Venkatapuram near Naiduthota, Gopalapatnam, in the wee hours of May 07, 2020. The incident occurred at around 2:30 am. While rescue operations have been going on since morning, the death toll has reached 8, close to 300 people have been hospitalised being severely affected and 5000 people have been reported sick. Vizag Gas Leak: Visakhapatnam Civic Body Tells Residents to Stay Indoors, Use Wet Cloth as Mask After Chemical Leak at LG Polymers Plant in Gopalapatnam.

"The gas was leaked out from two 5,000 tonne tanks, which had been unattended since March due to Covid-19 lockdown. It led to a chemical reaction and production of heat inside the tanks, which caused the leakage," Visakhapatnam ACP (West Zone) was quoted as saying by News18. Vizag Gas Leak: PM Narendra Modi Holds Emergency Meeting with NDMA on Andhra Pradesh Gas Tragedy.

Actor Chiranjeevi too took to twitter to condole the deaths caused by the incident and also urged the authorities to maintain safety precautions before they issue the order to re-open factories after lockdown.

Check Out The Tweet Below:

While Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy will soon be leaving for Vishakhapatnam to visit the hospitalised patients, the state authorities have called in the NDRF to help evacuate close to 9 villages in close proximity to the LG plant. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called in a Meeting with the National Disaster Management Authority. Rahul Gandhi offered support of his local Congress workers in the area to provide all necessary support to the affected people and authorities.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 07, 2020 12:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).