3 killed, over hundred hospitalized in gas leak in south India

   NEW DELHI, May 7  -- At least three persons died and more than a hundred were rushed to a local hospital after a gas leak happened in a chemical plant in Vishakhapatnam district of India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, confirmed a local senior police official to Xinhua over phone.
   "As of now three persons have died and 120 people are admitted in a local government hospital. Some of them are said to be critical. Situation is under control and the whole area around the chemical plant has been cordoned off and sealed," Vishakhapatnam Police Commissioner R.K. Meena told Xinhua.
   "Prima facie three persons died of suffocation," he added.
   Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to leave for Vishakhapatnam soon to take stock of the situation, said a source close to him.
   The source also said that the gas leak took place at the "LG Polymers" chemical plant in the wee hours of Thursday morning, leading to panic among the local people.
   "Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is closely monitoring the situation and has directed the district officials to take every possible step to save human lives and bring the situation under control. He will visit the patients admitted in the local hospital," added the source.  Xinhua