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Homicide Charges Against Factory after Gas Leak Kills 12 in India

Associated Press

   HYDERABAD, INDIA - Indian police on Friday filed charges of culpable
   homicide, including negligence in handling toxic substances, against a
   South Korean-owned chemical factory where a gas leak killed 12 people
   and sickened more than 1,000.

   The chemical styrene, used to make plastic and rubber, leaked Thursday
   from the LG Polymers plant owned by LG Chem while workers were
   preparing to restart the facility after a coronavirus lockdown was
   eased.

   The cause of the leak in the city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh
   state was still unclear, officials said Friday.

   A state administrator, Vinay Chand, said authorities flew in chemicals
   from a neighboring state to neutralize the gas completely before
   allowing people to return to their homes.

   Chand said 316 people were still being treated in hospitals and were in
   stable condition. State police chief Damodar Gautam Sawang said 800
   people were released after treatment on Thursday.

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