Punjab: 5 dead, 200 taken ill in ammonia gas tanker leak

Five persons were killed and nearly 200 others fell ill after inhaling ammonia gas which leaked from a gas tanker after it accidentally brushed against a flyover near here, triggering panic in the area.
The incident occurred last night on Delhi-Ludhiana highway when the tanker got stuck under a flyover along a canal, about 25-km from here, police said.
Khanna SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said that the incident was caused due to the negligence of the driver. "The tanker got stuck under the flyover and its valve got damaged, resulting in the leakage.
"It was late in the night and there was no heavy traffic. The driver should have seen if the vehicle would pass through," he said.

Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Dr Renu Chhatwal said,"Due to the ammonia gas leak incident at Doraha late last night, five persons have died, while a total of 190 were admitted in various hospitals of the district".
She said that at present, around 110 people are still hospitalised while the remaining have been discharged.

According to the doctor, the deceased have been identified as Satpal (60) and Ranjodh Singh (45), both residents of Doraha, Avitejinder Singh Kler (28), Rahul in his 30s and another person was yet to be identified.
Ludhiana Police Commissioner Pramod Ban said that soon after the incident police vehicles, fire tenders and ambulances were pressed into service.

Eyewitness and police said that there was panic among the travellers on the highway and adjoining roads besides those residing in nearby areas as vast stretch was affected due to the gas leak.
The locals came out of their houses even as the gas from the leaking tanker spread in and around Doraha, police said, adding that residents of the surrounding areas had to be evacuated after the incident. The tanker was coming from Gujarat to Punjab.
Four teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), from its nearest base in Bathinda, had been deployed to "render safe" the tanker and the leakage.

"The leaking gas was diluted with the help of water showers over the valve of the tanker," a statement issued by the NDRF said.
Later on, the tanker was shifted from the place where it had got stuck.