Over 30 victims of fluorine leakage from the cylinder explosion at the town water treatment plant on Monday March 5 are recovering, and 15 of these are still under treatment in hospitals.
A total of 36 people were admitted in the hospital of whom 21 recovered and were discharged from hospital. Water treatment plant personnel Koragappa and Balakrishna, fire fighters Shivakumar and Sudhir, local residents Monamma, Praveen, Hemant, Dinesh, Lokesh, Pratik, Vijaya, Tejasvi, Revati, Ramesh and Narayan are admitted as inpatients in hospitals at Bantwal, Thumbe, and Mangalore. According to sources, the condition of Dinesh and Monamma is critical.
The local residents are having difficulty breathing as the fluorine leaked into the neighbourhood.
Firefighters from Bantwal amd Mangalore restored the situation with safety gear. They neutralized the gas leakage by placing the fluorine cylinders in a pit and pouring a mixture of lime water. The exact cause for the explosion is yet to be ascertained.
Bantwal circle inspector Anil S Kulkarni and rural police provided security at the spot.
Town councilor B Dinesh Bhandary informed that the citizens need not fear owing to the incident as drinking water supply will not be affected due to the explosion in the plant.
The state ambulance 108 was appreciated for its prompt service when called to the spot. Along with fire fighters and police, the paramedics managed to take many victims to hospitals in Mangalore.