Indian authorities have widened the evacuation area after a deadly gas leak in a chemical plant in the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, operated by LG Polymers, a unit of South Korea’s LG Chem. The leaked toxic gas on Friday caused at least 11 fatalities and injured hundreds of people.
Gas from styrene leaked during the early hours of Thursday when the plant was in the process of reopening after being shut under India’s nationwide lockdown. According to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, the gas leaked because it had been stored for a long time.
The company and federal authorities on that day said the leak had been contained. Meanwhile, Srijana Gummalla from the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation also said that the emissions had declined throughout the day.
The evacuation area is widened from within a 3.5 km radius to 5 km on Friday as a precaution, LG Chem said. However, an official with the local fire department said the extension was due to renewed emissions from the plant.
Following the incident, LG Chem’s shares were down 0.7% on Friday morning, extending a nearly 2% decline on Thursday.
