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Wooden Crates lost 24 hospitalised
Karnal, August 26
Residents of Baldhi village in Karnal returned to their village
this morning after spending a sleepless night following gas leakage
from a truck ferrying Bromine liquid near their village. Officially
30 persons fell sick due to the gas leakage, unofficial figure
of the sick is being put at 48. Baldhi village, which was the
worst affected, was evacuated last night.
Pungent fumes were reddish-orange in colour. The
truck, which loaded bromine liquid bottles at Mumbai, was headed
for Dera Bassi when the incident took place. Bromine liquid is
believed to have been imported from Ukraine. The driver of the
truck realised that fumes were coming out and he turned the truck
from the national highway to the Karnal-Indri road.
He then parked the vehicle on an unmetalled road
away from habitation. However, thick fumes began to come out from
the liquid bottles. Due to wind direction, fumes went towards
Baldhi village. causing panic the village.
After fire brigade men failed to contain the fumes,
a decision was taken to move the truck to another desolate spot
on the Indri road to ensure that Baldhi villagers and people living
in neighbouring areas were not affected. The situation was brought
under control after a team of experts from Chandigarh arrived
at the spot. They brought with them sodium thiosulphate which
was mixed with water and sprayed on bromine liquid. The reddish-orange
fumes were neutralised and the colour changed to white.
Mr Om Prakash, panch of Baldhi village, said that
panic gripped the villagers at 6 pm yesterday. He said that Leela,
a village resident, was one of the first person’s to fall
unconscious after inhaling the gas leaking from a truck near the
village. Thereafter, everybody started rush up out of home to
escape from fumes.
Most of the affected persons are girls and women.
Villagers complained of giddiness, irritation in eyes and nausea.
Gas haze enveloped the village. Mr Om Prakash said that the affected
villagers were taken to Civil Hospital. “The rest of us
rushed towards GT road as there was no gas effect in that area.
Some of us took our cattles along,” he said.
Mr Chandel Singh, a resident of Baldhi village
whose six members of his family were affected, recalled that they
faced difficulty in breathing. “My nephew Balwan Singh,
who had gone to help felt uneasy and began complaining of acute
irritation in eye. He is recuperating in Hospital,” he said.
He said that residents of Baldhi village and other
areas including Basant Vihar, Salari, Tikri and 2-3 deras went
to the GT road to escape fumes. Nearly one km stretch of road
from Liberty chowk was occupied by local residents. “We
returned to our homes this morning,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Karnal Shyamal Mishra said
that the situation was brought under control by late last night.
He said that the bromine liquid bottles stacked in wooden crates,
Mr Mishra said that the cause of the incident is not yet known.
The chemical was being transported by an open truck from Mumbai
to Dera Bassi. He said that Bromine liquid bottles were stacked
in wooden crates. Mr Mishra said that the cause of the incident
is not yet known. The chemical seems to be corrosive in nature
and prolonged exposure can cause health problems. We ensured that
Baldhi village residents were shifted out last night,” he
said.
A doctor at the Civil Hospital said that out of
30 persons who were admitted to the hospital last night, only
two are left while the rest have discharged. patients complained
of breathlessness and irritation in throat and eyes,” he
said.
Mr Bhim Singh, a Haryana Roadways crane operator,
said that he lost consciousness in yesterday’s incident.
“With my crane, I had dragged the truck from which gas was
leaking to a new location but I had kept the engine of the crane
running after I disembarked. But, when I tried to return, gas
had engulfed the crane and I fell unconscious,” he said.
A police official said that a case has been registered against
the driver of the truck. He said that the truck contained 4095
bottles of bromine. Bottles were kept in 1365 wooden crates with
each crate containing three bottles.
