Visakhapatnam woke up to a heavy, pungent smelling air on Thursday, 7 May. In the wee hours of the morning, at about 3 am, a gas leak at the LG Polymers plant, in the Gopalapatnam neighbourhood of the city, ended up killing at least 11 people, including children.
The city was still sleeping when the leak happened, so locals woke up in the middle of the night with breathlessness, nausea, burning eyes, skin irritation, as the toxic gas spread in the surrounding areas of the chemical plant.
And by morning hundreds and hundreds of people, old and young, were rushed to the hospital.