137 faint in Port Qasim industrial gas leakage
As many as 137 people, mostly labourers working at a polymer and chemical plant situated in the Port Qasim Industrial Zone, fainted on Friday morning when highly toxic chlorine gas emitted from the industrial plant, causing panic in the vicinity, health officials said, adding that fortunately no loss of life was reported in the incident.
“This [Friday] morning at 10:10am, there was an isolated incident of release of chlorine gas through the vents at Engro Polymer & Chemicals Plant, Port Qasim,” a statement issued from the Engro Corporation said in statement, adding that due to swift identification of the incident and a rapid response by staff, the matter was quickly contained and the affected people were immediately taken for necessary first aid to nearby medical facilities.
Ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the industrial plant soon after learning about the incident and shifted affected persons to Al-Khidmat Hospital and Ayesha Hospital in Gulshan-e-Hadeed and 100-bed Hospital Steel Town, from where around 70 of the patients were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment, health officials said.
“Initially, all the people who had fainted were rushed to health facilities in Gulshan-e-Hadeed including Al-Khidmat Hospital, Ayesha Hospital and 100-bed Hospital of Pakistan Steel,” said Dr Ahmed Ali Memon, district health officer of Malir, while talking to The News.
Dr Memon, who supervised the rescue and evacuation operation, also visited different hospitals in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, inquired after the health of affected people and arranged the shifting of some serious patients to the JPMC. “According to the Engro Corporation authorities, it was an incident of chlorine gas leakage, which has very pungent smell and is highly toxic if inhaled in excess amount,” he added.
He said all patients had been discharged from hospitals by Friday night except for two patients who were under observation at the JPMC. He added that no death was reported in the industrial accident.
“People affected in the gas leakage incident told me that they were having problem with breathing, abdominal cramps and burning sensation in the eyes,” Dr Memon said, adding that fortunately none of them had inhaled the toxic amount of gas.
To a query, he said blood and urine samples of the affected people were not drawn for chemical and forensic analysis by any hospital as they were busy in providing them first aid, but he expressed the hope that the JPMC would have collected the blood and urine samples of some of the affected people, which could be used for analysis to determine the nature of gas that caused the havoc.
Another health official, Dr Zafar Iqbal from Al-Khidmat Hospital at Gulshan-e-Hadeed, said they received patients with chlorine gas inhalation with respiratory distress. “Of them, 10 patients with minor distress were treated and discharged immediately within an hour. Around 45 patients were further observed for over three hours and discharged with instructions.”
Dr Iqbal, who is the medical superintendent of Al-Khidmat Hospital, said 10 patients were in need of extended observation for five hours and two were advised to stay for further observation and treatment at the hospital.
Executive Director JPMC Dr Seemin Jamali said as many as 70 people were brought to the health facility with some kind of gas inhalation, who were provided first aid, and after observation, all of them were discharged after treatment.
Plant closed
Soon after the gas leakage incident in the Port Qasim Industrial Zone, The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) ordered the management of Engro Polymer and Chemicals Plant to stop its operations till the completion of an investigation into the incident by the regulatory authority.
A Sepa official said that on the directives from Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, a Sepa team, led by Director General Naeem Mughal, visited the place of the incident and ordered halting all its operations as all the plants at the industrial facility were interconnected. The plant from where gas emitted had already been closed down by the company.
A Sepa official said the company was also directed to keep its operations closed till it ensured full compliance with provincial environmental regulations, while the management of the company was also offered an opportunity of a personal hearing to explain its position on the matter.
In the meantime, another Sepa team visited the JPMC and the AKUH to collect the data of patients affected by the gas leak.
On the other hand, Engro Corporation said it would conduct a complete and thorough investigation into the incident. The company would keep all stakeholders informed about details related to the incident, and safety was a fundamental core value for Engro and all its companies, it added.
