After the accident in the South Indian port of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, in which a styrene leak at a plant belonging to LG Chem (Seoul / South Korea; www.lgchem.com) killed several people (see Plasteurope.com of 08.05.2020), Indian authorities have arrested around a dozen of the company’s employees. Should they be found guilty of negligent homicide, they face prison sentences of up to 10 years, reports news agency dpa-AFX.

The toxic styrene gas leaked from a tank at an LG Chem polystyrene plant on 7 May and spread to an adjacent residential area during the early morning. Hundreds of victims were exposed to the gas while sleeping and had to be taken to hospital. According to dpa-AFX, the number of people who have died as a result of the gas leak is now 15.

Reuters has reported that plant manager Sunkey Jeong is among those detained. An investigation committee accused LG Chem of neglecting safety standards and ignoring potential chemical reactions of the hazardous substance. LG Chem had been operating the plant with a reduced workforce – part of a coronavirus-related production shutdown – and they failed to refill inhibitors against the auto-polymerisation of styrene. As a result, the temperature inside the tank had risen to more than six times the permitted value, causing the leak. One consequence of the accident is that Indian authorities now intend to tighten the regulations for restarting production facilities.