8.7.20

Vizag gas leak: 12 LG Polymers officials arrested

A day after an expert panel submitted its report on the styrene gas leakage accident at LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam, police arrested 12 officials of the company – among them the CEO and two directors.

Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police Gautam Sawang confirmed the arrests, and said three senior government officials had also been suspended for dereliction of duty. One of the suspended officials is from the factories department and two from the pollution control board.

The expert committee, headed by senior IAS officer Neerabh Kumar Prasad, found fault with the management for a variety of lapses, including ignoring a preliminary warning from the styrene storage tank, failure of all 36 sirens in the plant, and poor training of staff dealing with the tanks.

The expert committee also favoured relocation of the company from its current location at RR Venkatapuram to some other place.

Twelve people died and more than 580 were hospitalised following the styrene gas leakage in the early hours of May 7.

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