In tragic news emerging from Punjab, as many as 11 people, including three children, lost their lives in Ludhiana after a toxic gas emerged reportedly from the sewers in the city's thickly populated Giaspura locality on Sunday.
The Ludhiana gas leak occurred on early Sunday morning when people smelled a highly pungent smell and soon began fainting. It was later detected that there was a toxic gas released in the air which had extremely high levels of hydrogen sulphide.
Apart from the 11 deceased, four more persons who had inhaled the gas were hospitalised, while the officials said they suspect that the poisonous gas was released after some chemical was disposed of in the sewerage in the area.
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People who took the victims to the hospitals recounted the horror of the incident, saying that people were fainting on the roads after the strong smell of the toxic gas overcame them. Many of the victims had died while lying on the road itself.
As per the Hindustan Times, one of the first people to reach the spot of the Ludhiana gas leak was a resident named Laddu Tiwari, who saw his landlord and his wife lying in the road after inhaling the toxic fumes of the gas.
He convinced an auto-rickshaw driver to take them to the hospital and instructed the young daughter of the couple to say inside and keep her doors and window closed. Tiwari said that the couple’s daughter still doesn’t know that her parents have passed away.
“There were symptoms like yellowing of face in victims which are consistent with Hydrogen Sulphide poisoning and the gas, a neurotoxin, was also detected. The decontamination process is underway... To flush the sewer," Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner (DC) Surabhi Malik said, as per PTI reports.
Meanwhile, the Ludhiana district administration has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 who were taken ill to the hospital.
(With PTI inputs)
READ | Ludhiana gas leak: 3 minors among 11 perished; Punjab government announces Rs 2 lakh ex gratia
