Ammonia gas leak: 24 hospitalised

PATHANAMTHITTA: Twenty-four persons, including 11 students, were hospitalised due to suffocation, following inhaling of ammonia gas which leaked from barrels transporting in a lorry at Vazhamuttom West near Pathanamthitta on Saturday. The inhaling of ammonia gas occurred when the lorry was overtaking a private bus carrying passengers at a bus stop at Vazhamuttom East in Vallicode panchayat near here at 8.45 am.The students in the bus, who felt suffocation after reaching schools here, were taken to the General Hospital.  Thirteen other passengers in the bus were taken to the General Hospital after feeling giddiness. None of the admitted patients was in serious condition. The police took the lorry, the driver and two others into custody from Oonnukal in Chennerkara panchayat near Omallur. Police said that the lorry was on its way from Thakkala in Tamil Nadu to Oonnukal.Probe orderedHealth Minister Adoor Prakash who visited the spot and the victims in the hospital, ordered a probe into the incident.Anto Antony MP,  K Sivadasan Nair MLA, and District Panchayat president Babu George visited the victims at the hospital.