79 Persons Remain Hospitalised Following Gas Leakage

79 workers remain hospitalised following gas leakage

PATHUM THANI: -- A factory where chemical leakage sent more than 200 workers to hospitals late Tuesday's night will be closed until March 1.

"It must improve its safety standards or else it will face permanent closure order," Industrial Works Department deputy director general Sermsak Suwattika said Wednesday.

The leakage of 35-per-cent hydrochloric acid took place at Belton Industrial (Thailand) Limited at around 11 pm on Tuesday. The incident caused a stampede, and more than 200 workers were hospitalised after they fainted or had difficulty breathing.

As of press time, at least 79 of the workers remained hospitalised. Of them, five were in serious conditions and were put on respirators.

The factory is located in Navanakorn Industrial Estate Zone 3 in Pathum Thani's Klong Luang district.

Sermsak said the factory inspection showed that the chemical pipe was corroded and became substandard, causing the leakage. The 35-per-cent hydrochloric acid, which is highly corrosive, was used to recycle water at the factory.

Klong Luang Police Station's superintendent Colonel Surasak Khunnarong said if a probe by the provincial industrial-works office suggested that recklessness was behind the leakage, that person would be summoned for questioning and face legal actions.

Sa-ngad Kosumsuriya, the human-resource director at Belton Industrial (Thailand), Wednesday handed out statement to workers explaining how the leakage occurred in front of the factory.

He said the company would pay for the workers' medical bills and transportation costs arising from their hospitalisation.

"Our management are going to convene a meeting on how to compensate our workers during the closure period," he added. More than 1,000 workers arrived at the factory yesterday morning but could not work.

Pathum Thani Governor Nares Jitsujaritwong said he already instructed relevant authorities to take care of the injured workers.

A 23-year-old worker, who asked that her name be withheld, complained that her supervisor and security guards ordered her and her friends to wait inside the factory when the leakage took place. "We decided to force our way out after some friends became giddy," she said.

She said once outside, she found a lot of rescue workers waiting to help the workers.

--The Nation 2006-01-11