17 hospitalised after inhaling poisonous gas at workplace

ALAPPUZHA: Seventeen women were hospitalised after inhaling an unidentified poisonous gas at their workplace here on Monday.

The women, employees of a spices and fragrance export firm, had arrived at the firm this morning after it re-opened following a cleaning and fumigation process that began on Saturday.

The women, who were working in the blending section, started feeling uneasy after they removed the plastic covers that had been placed on the articles inside the building before the fumigation process began.

With some of them complaining of breathlessness and vomiting, they were rushed to the Medical College Hospital at Vandanam and the General Hospital here.

One woman was admitted to the intensive care unit at the MCH while the others were admitted to the wards. Six others were discharged after being treated.

Authorities of the firm said the cleaning process was done by the Kochi unit of a pest management company and that a clearance certificate too had been issued. What went wrong was being verified, they said.