A total of 67 affected workers were rushed to local medical centres immediately after a major ammonia gas leak at a private seafood processing unit in Manjangaranai near Periyapalayam, Tiruvallur District Collector (DC) S. Kavitha said on Sunday (June 21, 2026).

According to her, 46 are being treated at Vels Hospital and 21 at Venkateshwara Hospital. Nine of the most critically ill patients have since been mobilised via ambulances to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai.

Meanwhile, dismissing initial rumours of multiple fatalities, a senior treating doctor from a private hospital confirmed to reporters that while several patients remain critical, no deaths had occurred at their facility.

“We admitted 44 patients in total, comprising 43 young women and one man. Out of these, we have intubated 15 to 16 patients, and 11 are currently on ventilator support,” the doctor told reporters. The 44 persons affected and all are migrant workers from north India.

The doctor noted that the affected workers are quite young, mostly women aged between 24 and 25 years.

“They are alive, and we can monitor their pulse and blood pressure, though their blood pressure is currently tracking quite low. Because they are young, we are optimistic they will recover. We are also arranging to shift four to five of the more critical patients to a government facility for advanced care,” the doctor added.

DC Kavitha visited the factory site and met with patients at the hospitals to oversee relief measures. A formal investigation has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the valve failure and to probe potential safety lapses at the export unit.