AMRITSAR: A gas leak killed 11 people in India on Sunday, in the latest deadly industrial accident in the country.

The accident happened in Giaspura, an industrial area of Ludhiana in East Punjab.

“Eleven deaths are confirmed,” Mandeep Singh Sidhu, police commissioner of Ludhiana, told reporters, adding that four people were hospitalised.

The cause of the leak was yet to be ascertained, Sidhu added.

“When the blood sample is matched with the sample that the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) team takes, only then will we be able to tell you the exact cause, which kind of gas,” the police commissioner said.

Five women were among the dead. The six other victims included two boys aged 10 and 13.

Industrial gas leaks blamed on poor safety standards and insufficient checks are common in India.

Last August, 112 women were hospitalised after a gas leak at an apparel manufacturing plant in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

That followed a similar accident in June when around 200 women fell unconscious after a gas leak in the same area.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023