ID :
93623
Mon, 12/07/2009 - 18:54
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http://m.oananews.org//node/93623
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Eight Map Ta Phut gas leak victims still in hospital
RAYONG, Dec 7 (TNA) – Eight local residents affected by a butane leak on a vessel at Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong on Sunday remain hospitalised, while health workers and other government workers were sent to help affected residents.
At a news conference on the gas leak, Rayong Governor Suyumporn Limthai and the medical team said that eight patients who reacted more severely to the butane leak will remain under surveillance in hospital for another 24 hours before being discharged.
All 62 residents received medical treatment after inhaling butane which leaked from a ship on Sunday. They had severe headache, chest pains and vomiting.
In related developments, Mr Suyumporn said provincial officials are helping affected residents. Initially, the provincial Red Cross helped the victims.
A mobile air quality monitoring unit is currently installed in the affected communities in order to measure air quality in the surrounding areas.
Regarding measures against possible leakage, Map Ta Phut port officials are revising procedures for ship inspection before vessels dock at the port, as well as reviewing measures involved in responding to an emergency incident.
The governor added that investigators have been urged to prosecute the operator and people who have been involved in the incident on charges of causing suffering to other people due to carelessness.
The incident took place when butane leaked from a safety valve aboard the ship while its cargo was being loaded. Officials said the leaked chemical substance was not dangerous and that the safety valve was repaired before the ship departed with its cargo.
Officials of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) and the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) said the owner of the Global Hime, a LPG carrying ship registered in Singapore, is prepared to pay for medical bills for the victims.
Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu, a member of the committee tasked with resolving the Map Ta Phut problem, complained that managers of the industrial estate were unable to stop gas leakage from the ship, which happened Saturday afternoon before it was carried to the nearby communities.
The incidents took place while members of a four-party panel chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun visited residents in Map Ta Phut municipality for the first time on Saturday to gain first hand information on industrial pollution in the area. (TNA)
At a news conference on the gas leak, Rayong Governor Suyumporn Limthai and the medical team said that eight patients who reacted more severely to the butane leak will remain under surveillance in hospital for another 24 hours before being discharged.
All 62 residents received medical treatment after inhaling butane which leaked from a ship on Sunday. They had severe headache, chest pains and vomiting.
In related developments, Mr Suyumporn said provincial officials are helping affected residents. Initially, the provincial Red Cross helped the victims.
A mobile air quality monitoring unit is currently installed in the affected communities in order to measure air quality in the surrounding areas.
Regarding measures against possible leakage, Map Ta Phut port officials are revising procedures for ship inspection before vessels dock at the port, as well as reviewing measures involved in responding to an emergency incident.
The governor added that investigators have been urged to prosecute the operator and people who have been involved in the incident on charges of causing suffering to other people due to carelessness.
The incident took place when butane leaked from a safety valve aboard the ship while its cargo was being loaded. Officials said the leaked chemical substance was not dangerous and that the safety valve was repaired before the ship departed with its cargo.
Officials of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) and the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) said the owner of the Global Hime, a LPG carrying ship registered in Singapore, is prepared to pay for medical bills for the victims.
Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu, a member of the committee tasked with resolving the Map Ta Phut problem, complained that managers of the industrial estate were unable to stop gas leakage from the ship, which happened Saturday afternoon before it was carried to the nearby communities.
The incidents took place while members of a four-party panel chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun visited residents in Map Ta Phut municipality for the first time on Saturday to gain first hand information on industrial pollution in the area. (TNA)
