Toxic gas leak from abandoned tank sends 26 to hospital in Pune

PUNE: As many as 26 people, including two fire brigade officials, suffering from uneasiness were hospitalised following gas leakage from an unattended tank at an open plot near Aai Mata Mandir, close to Gangadham Chowk, around 12.30am on Thursday.

The Bibvewadi police said the steel tank corroded over time. A hole developed in it on Wednesday night, causing the gas leak.

A total of 24 residents of Saibabanagar in Kondhwa and the two fire brigade officials complained of breathlessness, cough, dizziness, vomiting, throat irritation and eye irritation before they were wheeled into Sassoon General Hospital and another health hub in Dhankawdi. All of them are stable and are likely to be discharged from hospitals by Friday morning.

The fire brigade received a call at 12.50am on Thursday about a gas cylinder leak. A team from Gangadham fire station, comprising five officers and about 30 firefighters, rushed to the spot with four fire tenders. The firemen could not immediately detect the exact source of gas leakage. The foul smell trail led them to the tank in the open plot, which was later sealed.

Two fire brigade personnel fell ill while detecting the source of the gas leak. City fire brigade chief Devendra Potphode told TOI, "Fire station officer Sunil Naiknaware and fireman Dhananjay Bhise were hospitalised. They are out of danger."

The fire brigade personnel evacuated the ailing people of Saibabanagar wearing breathing apparatus. Water and caustic soda were used to suppress the gas.

The police said the abandoned tank containing poly aluminium chloride gas and the open plot belonged to a businessman (73) supplying chemicals to industrial units. Asfaq Rashid Sayyed (33) from Saibabanagar lodged a complaint against him and his manager. The police have registered a case under sections 286 (negligent or rash handling of poisonous substances endangering human life or causing injury) and 125 (rash or negligent acts endangering human life or personal safety) of the BNS.

Senior inspector Tejasvini Satpute of the Bibvewadi police said, "The businessman had kept the 900kg tank in the open plot a few years ago. He was negligent about taking safety measures to avert any untoward incident because the tank contained harmful substances."

She said, "After delivering gas to a company, the tank was brought to the open plot and left unattended. A significant volume of poly aluminium chloride residue remained inside it. Over time, the steel tank corroded. A hole developed in it on Wednesday night, causing the gas leak."

Satpute said. "There were two employees and a manager at the open plot, but they were not affected because of the direction of airflow from Bibvewadi towards Kondhwa. The poisonous gas drifted towards Saibabanagar. Some residents of Saibabanagar woke up experiencing breathlessness."

Aziz Khan, a resident of Saibabanagar, said, "I came home around 10.30pm, and we went to sleep after dinner. I suddenly woke up around 1am on Thursday because I was unable to breathe. I woke up my family members and we all ran to the open road near Aai Mata Mandir. This quick action saved us from being hospitalised."

Officials from Disaster Management Cell, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, and industrial safety and health department visited the site. The Bibvewadi police collected samples from the tank for chemical analysis.

(With inputs from Steffy Thevar)

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