Vizag gas leak: CEO, two directors of LG Polymers arrested

Visakhapatnam, July 7

Visakhapatnam Police arrested three top executives of LG Polymers, a police official said---a development that comes two months after a gas leak near the port town killed 12 people and caused some 585 people to fall sick.

“CEO and two directors of LG Polymers arrested in connection with the styrene vapour leak near Visakhapatnam on May 7,” Police Commissioner RK Meena told PTI over the phone.

Besides the top executives, eight other officials of the South Korean company have been arrested.  

The development comes days after a high-powered committee set up by the state government to inquire into the incident found negligence on the part of the plant. The report blamed the incident on slack safety protocols and total breakdown of the emergency response procedures at the plant.

The gas leak in the small hours of May 7 came in the middle the coronavirus pandemic and a nationwide shutdown called to stop the spread of the virus. It drew nationwide shock and outrage, and brought back grim memories of the Bhopal Gas Leak disaster of December 1984---considered among the biggest industrial disasters in the world. Agencies