A gas leak has killed at least 11 people in northern India.
Women and children are also among those who died in the port city of Ludhiana in the state of Punjab. Many people were found unconscious in their homes.
The area was sealed off and residents were evacuated after many people reported breathing problems. Four are under treatment in hospital.
The source of the leak is still unclear. An official suggested that the gas may have spread through manholes.
Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik was quoted by JEE News: “We are going to take samples from the manholes. There is a strong possibility that some chemical has reacted with methane in the manholes. “
Rajinder Pal Kaur Chinna, a local member of parliament, told JEE News that the incident took place near a milk shop. “People who had come to buy milk in the morning fell unconscious outside,” he said.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force has been dispatched to the site in Gayaspura area of Ludhiana. There are factories nearby.
Industrial gas emissions are not uncommon in India.
Three years ago, at least 12 people were killed in a gas leak from a chemical plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
In 1984, a chemical leak at a pesticide plant in the central city of Bhopal killed thousands, in what is recognized as the world’s worst industrial disaster.
