Palghar: A 59-year-old man died and 18 others, including five fire brigade personnel, were taken to hospital on Tuesday after chlorine gas leaked from an ageing cylinder in Vasai, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, officials confirmed.

Vasai is situated approximately 50 kilometres from Mumbai.

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The leak occurred at around 3.30 pm during maintenance work near a water tank close to the Diwanman crematorium, according to Resident Deputy Collector Subhash Bagde, who also heads the District Disaster Management Authority.

The victims include a young boy, two teenage girls and five women. All are residents of the same neighbourhood.

Bagde said the gas escaped from the valve of a 10–15-year-old chlorine cylinder, releasing toxic fumes across the surrounding area. Fire brigade personnel from the Suncity fire station responded immediately and attempted to contain the leak, but several suffered gas inhalation in the process.

Two additional firemen, Swapnil Dhag and Pankaj Satvi, managed to prevent the gas from spreading further by continuously spraying water over the cylinder before pushing it into a nearby pond to neutralise the leak.

Nineteen people in total were taken to three nearby hospitals. Despite medical efforts, local resident Dev Kantilal Pardiwal (59) succumbed to the effects of the chlorine exposure. His wife, Manisha (55), remains in intensive care at another facility.

Among those hospitalised were local fire station in-charge Vijay Rane (53), firemen Kalpesh Patil (41) and Kunal Patil (28), and drivers Pramod Patil (43) and Sachin More. More was later discharged.

Other injured residents include Priya Rathod (14), Anish Solanki (15), Nazneem Dogaria (17), Anjali Rathod (19), Kantilal Mistry (75), Pushpa Mistry (72) and Shanta Solanki (62). Officials reported their conditions to be stable.

The incident follows a similar leak in Andheri on Saturday, when a 20-year-old man died after inhaling toxic fumes from a suspected chemical leak inside an industrial unit.

PTI