Vizag gas leak: Chilling scenes bring back memories of Bhopal tragedy

He initially mistook it for a leak from cooking gas cylinder in his house, but only when G Vinay stepped out did he realise the pungent smell was of the killer vapour from a nearby chemical plant that snuffed out 11 lives and hit nearly 1,000 people in Andhra Pradesh.

Heart-wrenching scenes of anxious parents carrying their wards in arms, health workers scrambling to help the affected and fleeing residents were witnessed on Thursday as the enormity of the situation forced them to ignore social distancing and other precautions against coronavirus.

Many collapsed on roads and kerbs trying to flee from the affected areas in a five km radius, bringing back grim memories of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

The leak of styrene, a chemical used to make synthetic rubber and resins, among others, occurred in LG Polymers Limited plant at R R Venkatapuram village near here in the wee hours while people were still fast asleep.

The worst-hit Venkatapuram reverberated with cries of people