Man dies after inhaling poisonous gas in Tamil Nadu fish oil factory

Two others were also affected in the incident and are likely to be discharged from the Ramanathapuram Government Medical College Hospital soon, police said.
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An Odisha native man died in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district on Sunday, December 12, while allegedly cleaning an effluent storage tank at a fish oil production factory. Two others, who are also from Odisha, were admitted to the Ramanathapuram Government Medical College. They are recovering and will likely be discharged soon, police said. The deceased was identified as 24-year-old S Nabin Oram. According to the police, the other two who are critical — Anil Majith (23) and Jasman Kuthur (21) — were affected when they tried to rescue Nabin after he fell unconscious.

Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Ramanathapuram, Sheikh Mansoor conducted a preliminary inquiry and stopped the operations of the company after the incident occured. The Department of Industrial Safety has commenced an investigation into the matter.

Based on a complaint by Machur village administrative officer P Radha, the Thondi police have registered a case against the Managing Director of the company, Shahul Hameed, its operations manager, Mohammed Biswak, factory floor in-charge Nakshatra Mari, Bikram Oram, and Maheswaran. The factory, which is a decade old, has been in the business of manufacturing oil and fish powder from fish waste. A total of 80 employees were working in the factory, of which 59 are from Odisha, 14 are from Tamil Nadu and seven are from Karnataka.

Tiruvadanai Thahsildhar, R Senthivel Murugan told IANS, "The preliminary inquiry conducted by me and my team has revealed that poisonous fumes have emanated from the tank. Further investigations will reveal the exact reason for the formation of poisonous gas. The factory has been functioning for over a decade in this place and this is the first such incident."

He also said that factory management rushed the three to the Thondi Primary Healthcare Centre after they fell unconscious, where they received first aid treatment. They were then taken to the Ramanathapuram Government Medical College Hospital. Nabin is said to have died en route to the hospital. 

(With inputs from IANS)

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