7 dead, over 40 hospitalised after ammonia leak at Tamil Nadu seafood factory

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.