20,000 Chinese people evacuated because of toxic gas leaks

About 10 tons of ammonia gas leaked out after the pipeline at the fertilizer plant in Hubei province, China, exploded Tuesday morning, causing 20,000 people to evacuate urgently.

One worker died on the spot when the pipe exploded and six were injured, including a 16-year-old girl and a pregnant woman in a nearby village.

Schools and houses around the area were immediately closed and evacuated when firefighters sprayed water to the sky to disperse the gas. However, the amount of water flowing down the Huanbe River makes the water with too high levels of nitrogen and ammonia, threatening downstream water supplies.

People were returning home yesterday morning despite the strong ammonia smell in the air.

Just a small amount of this gas in the air can harm people with asthma and people with other health problems and high levels can cause lung damage, even death.

Chemical leaks occur frequently in factories in China, in part due to poor maintenance or over capacity to meet the needs of the rapidly growing economy.

Firefighting forces are overcoming the consequences of the leak of Ammonia gas.
(Photo: China Daily)

Ngoc Son