Authorities are searching for a man who sold chlorine gas cylinders to a scrap company where a gas leak occurred in Industrial Area No.4 in Sharjah, sending 88 people to hospital on Thursday and Friday, police told Gulf News on Saturday.

The affected workers from India, Pakistan and Nepal aged between 24 to 38 and were exposed to the caustic gas fumes.

The incident occurred at a scrap factory after midnight on Thursday and many of the workers who complained of uneasiness had been staying in nearby accommodations, police said.

A total of 162 workers were affected due to the incident, with 74 of them provided treatment at the site while 88 workers were taken to Kuwait Hospital, Al Qasimi Hospital and Khalifa Hospital in Ajman.

All the workers were discharged from hospitals and only five were admitted to Kuwait Hospital with one Pakistani worker who suffered a heart condition being admitted to the ICU. On Saturday afternoon, the 28-year-old worker was moved from the ICU to the medical award as his condition improved, police said

Dr Eisa Al Moa’almi, head of the emergency department at Kuwait Hospital, told Gulf News that the hospital received 26 workers after the incident, and five of them were admitted. The hospital started receiving patients after midnight on Thursday and until 7.30am on Friday, he said.

Some workers who came to the hospital on Friday morning said they woke up from sleep suffering from breathing difficulties, he said.

Al Qasimi Hospital received 31 workers early on Friday at round 3.30am and all the workers were discharged by 5.30am after receiving treatment.

Khalifa Hospital in Ajman received 31 workers all of whom were discharged after treatment.

Sharjah Police and environment authorities disposed of the gas cylinders as a precaution to prevent any further gas leak.

The incident is believed to have been caused by the illegal cutting of gas cylinders to be sold as scrap.

Colonel Sami Khamis Al Naqbi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Defence, told Gulf News, that “initial investigations found the leak was due to illegal cutting of the gas cylinders and they were storing the cylinders in an inappropriate place.”

The municipality and Ministry of Environment and Water is investigating to determine damage caused to the environment due to the gas leak.

Authorities found 22 cylinders at the site but only one of them contained chlorine gas. All the cylinders have been destroyed by authorities as a precaution.

Col. Al Naqbi said the police operation started from Thursday midnight and continued until Friday morning. A civil defence team immersed the cylinders in a container filled with water to neutralise the gas and changed the water several times over, he added

source : gulfnews