Six workers die after gas leak in Barrackpore factory

Initial reports said they died due to suffocation while cleaning a tank.

Six workers of a paper mill in North 24 Paragnas district died in a gas leak while cleaning a tank used for storing chemicals. The incident took place in the Hazinagar area of the district’s Barrackpore I block late on Thursday evening. No one has been arrested so far.

“Six persons have died yesterday while cleaning a tank at a factory in Hazinagar. Action will be taken as per law when we receive a complaint,” Rajesh Kumar Singh, Commissioner of Barrackpore Police Commissionarate told The Hindu .

Even as Mr. Singh refused to divulge any further information about the incident locals said that the “workers died due to suffocation as the tank they were cleaning had methane gas.”

They also accused the mill owner of not providing any safety equipment to the workers.

Among the six three-Mithun Prajapati, Udayraj Singh, Md.Najim are from Uttrakhand-and the rest- Amit Yadav, Binoy Verma and Ashok Boral-are local residents.