A technical glitch in the refrigeration unit attached to two styrene gas tanks at LG Polymers Pvt. Ltd.'s plant caused the Vizag gas leak, a senior district official said on Thursday, quoting a preliminary report.
Eleven people, including children, were killed in the early morning gas leak that raised fears of a serious industrial disaster. More than 200 people have been hospitalised while thousands others in a three-km radius were affected.
The leak was so intense that at "only around 9:30 a.m. could we understand what exactly it was, as the thick fog that formed in the area cleared", District Collector V Vinay Chand said.
"Styrene monomer is normally in a liquid state and is safe below a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. But, because of the malfunctioning of the refrigeration unit, the chemical started gasifying," he said, quoting the preliminary report submitted by the Andhra Pradesh's Factories Department.
Also Read: Vizag Gas Leak: NHRC Issues Notices To Centre, Andhra Pradesh
The technical glitch caused the temperature in the chemical storage tank to rise above 20 degrees Celsius, leading to gasification and consequent evaporation of styrene, he told reporters in Visakhapatnam.
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