Scores of people fall sick in Sri Lanka amid gas leak from fertilizer factory container

Scores of people were hospitalized with respiratory illness until the early hours of Tuesday as ammonia gas leaked from a container in Anwara on the outskirts of Bangladesh's southeastern seaport city Chittagong.

A local police official told Xinhua on Tuesday morning that many fell sick after inhaling the gas that spread from the leakage at Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer factory container in Chittagong, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka.

The leakage from the reserve container started at around 10.30 p.m. on Monday night, said the official who did not like to be named.

He said the container had stored 500 tons of Ammonium Phosphate.

Panic gripped entire area adjacent to the factory as more and more people had then suffered heavily smelly air, severe irritation of the nose and throat, and respiratory discomfort.

According to the local police official, at least 57 people were admitted to a Chittagong hospital with breathing trouble.

Police and fire crew rushed to the area soon after receiving information and immediate actions were taken to repair the gas leakage which is yet to come under full control. Endit