A specialised CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) team of the NDRF and medical specialists are being rushed to Vishakhapatnam where 11 people have been killed and about 1,000 affected due to gas leak at a chemical factory, the Centre said on Thursday.

Director-general of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) S. N. Pradhan said the leakage from the factory is now minimal but the force personnel will be at the spot till it is totally plugged.

As of now 11 people have lost their lives and 20-25 people are critical due to the gas leak, he said at a hurriedly convened press conference in New Delhi.

Member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Kamal Kishore said that about 1,000 people living in nearby areas of the factory have been exposed to the gas leak.

Pradhan said 500 people belonging to 200-250 families living in 3 km radius have been evacuated to the safer places.

Kishore said the gas that has leaked is styrene and the site of incident is about 20 kms from Vishakhapatnam.

'It is toxic and injurious to human health. So far what we know is that nearly 1,000 people were directly exposed living in close proximity to the plant where the leak took place,' he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the NDMA, of which he is the chairperson, and took stock of the situation on the ground as well as the response that has taken place till now and the response required from across the board.

Subsequently, the National Crisis Management Committee, headed by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, met and designed specific steps that needed to be taken to contain the effect and ensure the safety of people who were affected, and manage the emergency on ground, he said.

Kishore said the central government is flying in a specialised CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) team of the NDRF from Pune to Vishakhapatnam and they will extend all technical support to the local authorities.

'We are also mobilising specialised technical support to assist the medical practitioners in the area who may not have dealt with this kind of emergency,' he said.

When asked if the Centre will issue some guidelines in the wake of similar factories opening after the lockdown, Kishore said there are detailed guidelines on chemical safety and these are very clear and industries need to implement them vigorously like before.

There is no need to issue fresh directives but social distancing measures should be enforced properly in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, he said.

Giving details of the incident, Pradhan said it happened at around 2:30am. Initially the people were affected by some throat and skin irritation and toxic gas smell, he said.

'We were informed at around 5:30-5:45am and the NDRF personnel were there in half-an-hour,' he said.

The NDRF chief said door-to-door search was done by NDRF personnel to help unconscious and semi-conscious people living in nearby areas.

'We will stay back in that area till we are absolutely sure that the situation is under control. We will be at the incident site till it is required.

'The overall situation is under control and I think overall we can say that it is about rehabilitation and treatment of affected people,' he said.

Andhra Pradesh Industries Minister M Goutham Reddy on Thursday said the state government is airlifting 500 tons of inhibitors, as a foolproof safety measure, and that the company would be asked to explain what went wrong. A criminal case has been registered against management of chemical plant by Andhra police.

A father rushes his child to the King George Hospital for treatment after a major chemical gas leakage at LG Polymers industry in R.R. Venkatapuram village, Visakhapatnam, Thursday, May 07, 2020 PTI

Pradhan also said the cause of leakage is being probed by local police and its major effect remains for about 6-7 hours and situations is under watch, being closely monitored. There is nothing to worry about now, he said.

AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, who also attended the briefing, said evacuated people are being treated and monitored closely.

House-to-house visits are being done to see if any one is facing any medical problem, he said.

Hours after the gas leak around 2.30am from the multinational LG Polymers Plant at R. R. Venkatapuram village near Visakhapatnam, scores of people could be seen lying unconscious on sidewalks and near ditches, raising fears of a major industrial disaster.

Among the dead was a child and two people who fell into a borewell while escaping from the vapours from the plant, getting ready to reopen after the lockdown.

As rescue officers and police personnel rushed to take people to hospital and revive them, many people could be seen gasping for breath as they staggered their way to safety, dazed and stunned. Some tried to walk but fell to the ground in a faint.

Cries for help broke the silence of the night and many people fell unconscious during their sleep, a villager said.

Taking stock of the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had spoken to officials of the ministry of home affairs and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

'I pray for everyone's safety and well-being in Visakhapatnam,' Modi said in a tweet.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu also condoled the loss of lives.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy has ordered a probe into the matter, state director general of police D. Gautam Sawang said.

As the leak spread, everyone helped as they could, some offering first aid, others water, dabbing and wiping people's faces. Those affected were rushed to hospitals in autos and two-wheelers while government workers and others tried to assist in whatever way possible.

In disturbing visuals that flashed across television screens, two children hugged each other as a rescue worker tried to revive a woman, possibly their mother.

Those who could speak narrated what had happened. People could also be seen sitting on the kerb, trying to explain the events of the morning.

State industries minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy said the LG Polymers unit was supposed to reopen post-lockdown on Thursday.

'We are trying to reach out to the top management of the (South Korean) company...our immediate priority is to arrest the leak and ensure proper medicare to the affected people,' he said.

In a series of tweets, Reddy said villages around the plant are being evacuated and a help desk was set up.

Styrene gas affects the central nervous system, throat, skin, eyes and some other parts of the body, said NDRF director-general S. N. Pradhan.

The gas leak incident took place as the plastic factory that was closed during the lockdown was being prepared for resumption of operations, he said.

Several police personnel, who were part of the rescue operation, also complained of of symptoms like breathlessness, irritation in eyes and fell unconscious.

The 20-odd workers in the plant were well-versed with safety protocol and took appropriate steps and therefore did not suffer, sources said.

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation put out an advisory on Twitter, asking people to wear a wet cloth or mask, eat banana and jaggery and drink milk to neutralise the effects of the gas.

The Andhra Pradesh government has appealed to citizens of Visakhapatnam not to panic and cooperate with authorities working to bring under control the situation.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed shock over the gas leak incident in Visakhapatnam and prayed for the speedy recovery of those hospitalised.

He also urged Congress workers in the area to provide all necessary support to those affected.

My condolences to the families of those who have perished. I pray that those hospitalised make a speedy recovery,' he said on Twitter.

The grim scenes recalled the Bhopal gas leak, the world's worst industrial disaster in which more than 3,000 people were killed and lakhs affected when methyl isocyanate gas leaked out from a Union Carbide plant on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984.