(MENAFN- QNA) At least six people were killed and over 150 were taken ill with breathing difficulties after ammonia leaked from a tanker in north India on Saturday, police said.
The tanker got stuck under a flyover in Punjab state's Doraha town shortly after midnight.
"The vehicle got stuck because the bridge was low. It's valve got damaged resulting in the leak," local police officer Harjinder Singh said.
"Six people died from inhaling the gas while 156 people complained of breathing problems. Most of them were discharged after treatment at hospitals," Singh said.
Locals rushed out of their homes after gas from the leaking tanker spread in and around Doraha, he said.
Doctors said people complained of breathing problems and some of them had fainted. Others complained of eye-irritation and nausea.
A statement from the National Disaster Response Force said its teams shifted the damaged tanker from the site and later contained the gas leakage.
The IANS news agency reported that more than 1,000 people residing in the vicinity of the accident site were affected.
Police said the incident was caused because of the negligence of the driver and registered a case against him.
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