AP:5 workers die due to poisonous gas while cleaning chem tank

Five workers died today after allegedly inhaling poisonous gas, suspected to be amonia, in an aqua food processing unit at Mogalturu town in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, police said.
The kin of the deceased workers will be paid a sum of Rs 25 lakh each, according to West Godavari district Collector Katamaneni Bhaskar.
While the state government will pay Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each deceased, the plant management will pay Rs 15 lakh to each of the victims' kin, he said, adding that the processing plant would be seized.
A senior police official in Eluru said that the five persons, aged between 21 and 25, were cleaning the tank filled with chemicals, used for shrimp processing, when they inhaled gas and died.

The tank is located over 100 meters away from Anand Aqua Food Processing unit at Nallavari Cheruvu under Mogalturu.
The deceased youths belonged to villages in the vicinity of the plant, police said.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has expressed grief over the tragedy.
He spoke to the West Godavari district Collector and enquired about the incident.
YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has expressed shock and grief over the incident. He conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.
Jagan visited the Narsapuram government hospital in the evening and consoled the victims' family members.
He said the YSRC would stand by them.

Meanwhile, Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan too expressed anguish over the incident, saying that flouting of environmental norms was causing such mishaps.
"Such tragedies occur when norms prescribed by the Pollution Control Board are not followed. That is also causing several adverse implications. Licenses of such companies should be revoked," Kalyan demanded.