Vizag Gas Tragedy: People & Animals Collapse on Road, While Birds Fall From Sky; Survivors Recall Horror!

The country woke up to the sad news of Vizag gas leak, that has killed eleven people, including a child and over 1,000 sick and admitted to a hospital. This horrifying incident happened after gas leaked overnight at a chemical plant of a multinational firm in Andhra Pradesh's Vishakhapatnam city. 

The incident happened when the plant was preparing to resume production today after lockdown restrictions was eased amid COVID-19 scare. Currently, three villages have been evacuated and thousand of people have been shifted to other areas. While officials are still running door to door checking on people. 

People were shocked to see men and women found lying motionless in lanes, ditches and near houses. Even animals were seen fallen unconscious while birds were falling from the sky. Reports also suggest that the sky turned black while the trees turned grey. 

The gas leaked at 2.30 am from two large tanks that were unattended because of the lockdown, a police officer confirmed. Few of the incidents are, two people, who were so dizzy, fell into a well and died, while two others died when their two-wheeler fell into a ditch and many more cases are making headlines.

Currently, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) declared this incident a chemical disaster and said that up to 25 people are said to be critical. Meanwhile, Police officer Swaroop Rani in Visakhapatnam told news agancy AFP that the gas leaked out of two 5,000-tonne tanks that had been unattended due to the lockdown.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and assured to give all possible help that he would need. PM Modi even called for a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority and said, “I pray for everyone’s safety and well-being in Visakhapatnam."

This sad incident has been compared to the 1984 Bhopal Gas leak, which is one of the worst disasters in history. It killed more than 3,500 people while lakhs were left traumatized and sick forever. 

Check out few videos and tweets from the tragedy: