Hazardous industry: Two critical, a dozens ill from inhaling ammonia gas

The gas had leaked from a cylinder at an ice factory in the neighbourhood.

LAHORE:

At least a dozen people were taken ill after they inhaled ammonia gas that leaked at an ice factory in Bagrian, Green Town, on Saturday.

Rescue-1122 officials said that those affected were taken to Jinnah Hospital for treatment. Doctors said that the condition of all but two was stable. They said that a woman and a child were in the intensive care unit.

Police said that three children, five women and four men had fallen ill from inhaling the gas.

Green Town Station House Officer Imran Pasha said that the ice factory at Nawaz Mor, near Bagrian, was situated in a residential area. An ammonia gas cylinder blew up and the gas leaked in the area.

A worker staying at the factory and 11 neighbours were affected. Police said that the neighbours had been sleeping on their roofs.

Police said that they had registered a case against the factory owner, Sheikh Baqir. They said that prima facie, negligence had led to the gas leak.

SHO Pasha said the factory owner had been arrested.

The district coordination officer took notice of the incident. Officials of the district government sealed the factory.

They said an investigation was underway that would ascertain whether the factory was set up before the houses were built around it. That would allow them to check whether some government officials, too, were responsible for the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2014.