Tiruvallur ammonia gas leak: Death toll rises to five at seafood processing unit

Three additional fatalities were reported as of 7 a.m. on Monday (June 22, 2026) taking the death toll to five in the ammonia gas leak inicident at a shrimp processing unit in Tiruvallur district on Sunday (June 21, 2026). Sixty-seven persons are currently under treatment in various hospitals, according to a media bulletin issued by the Health department of Tamil Nadu.

Two workers, Jumani Juang and B. Malothi, both migrant workers from Odisha, were killed on Sunday (June 21) after the ammonia gas leak incident at the shrimp processing unit in Periyapalayam.

The police arrested the proprietor of the company and the factory manager, who both have a case pending against them for previous violations of industrial safety norms. Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay set up a three-member committee to probe the incident.

“A 3 member committee with Director of Industrial Safety and Health, Member Secretary, Pollution Control Board and Additional Director of Public Health has been formed to submit an interim report in 24 hours and final report in 3 days,” an official statement said. To prevent the recurrence of such accidents, the government has mandated immediate joint inspections of all hazardous industries, the statement added.

Mr. Vijay also ordered ₹2 lakh each to be paid to the families of the two dead workers, as a solatium from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund, and directed their bodies to be transported to their native States for final rites at the Tamil Nadu government’s expense.