Visakhapatnam woke up to a heavy, pungent smelling air on Thursday, 7 May. In the wee hours of the morning, at about 3 am, a gas leak at the LG Polymers plant in the Gopalapatnam neighbourhood of the city, ended up killing at least 11 people, including children.

The city was still sleeping when the leak had happened, so locals woke up in the middle of the night with breathlessness, nausea, burning eyes, skin irritation, as the toxic gas spread in the radius of the chemical plant. And by morning hundreds and hundreds of people, old and young, were rushed to the hospital.

The LG Polymers plant is owned by South Korean chemical giant, LG Chem. The plant where the leak happened manufactures plastic and plastic compounds like polystyrene, high impact polystyrene and expandable polystyrene.

The raw materials that this plant uses is styrene — a highly inflammable substance that releases a poisonous gas when it's heated up.

What short and long-term effects can this gas leak trigger? Tune in to The Big Story!

Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha

Editor: Shelly Walia

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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