A large number of people who rushed out of their houses from Pendurthy, Vepagunta, Simhachalam, Gopalapatnam, Madhavadhara, Marripalem and a few other areas in Visakhapatnam after social media rumors of a second leak in LG Polymers factory have started returning to their houses early on Friday morning.
Eleven people, including a six-year-old girl, died and over 350 were admitted to hospitals after styrene monomer gas leaked from a chemical plant belonging to LG Polymers at RR Venkatapuram in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Most of the people who evacuated from their homes spent the night sitting in their four-wheelers on the road or stretching out on footpaths along the Adavivaram-Mudasarlova route. Scores of people took to the beach road stretch between NTR statue and Park Hotel junction in the city. There were many who reached out to friends and relatives in the wee hours as well.
On Thursday midnight, rumours spread that the police are reportedly asking residents within 5 km radius of the LG Polymers plant to evacuate due to another gas leak. The incident took place when authorities were evacuating people from within 1 km radius as a precaution, since some amount of styrene vapour was still present in the area.
Police started to deploy patrolling vehicles from 2.30 a.m. making announcements that there is nothing to worry. Many people started to return homes by the morning, as police teams urged people who were staying outside to go back to their homes.
However many locals complained of pungent smell in their area. A few residents switched off electricity in their houses as a precautionary measure and did not sleep till early morning.
