the goan I network
VASCO
It was a midnight of shock and horror, as residents were abruptly awoken from their sleep and immediately asked to evacuate their homes, to escape the hazardous ammonia leaking from a tanker which toppled at Chicalim in the wee hours of Friday.
Narrating their ordeal to The Goan, several residents expressed shock over the incident and said they were struggling to breathe due to the toxic fumes, but were very relieved to have escaped unharmed. “I literally couldn’t breathe and it was a horrific moment as I had to shift my elderly parents amongst the toxic fumes,” said a resident, Vikram Sarmalkar.
“I had to rush with them in the wee hours and shift them to another premises. Vasco is always a potential time bomb and we have always been lucky that somehow we are safe by the grace of Lord Damodar. We can’t ignore such incidents. It’s time to take serious action,” he added.
James Anderson also described the difficulties they faced while evacuating their homes. “We were told to shift immediately. Initially, it didn’t seem startling, but in time, the fumes began to spread and the smell started getting stronger and unbearable. During the time of evacuation, the fumes were very strong and made it difficult to breathe. Our eyes began to burn as well,” said Anderson.
Another resident, Pradyumn Shelkar, added: “Thank God, the incident happened late night. If it was during the day, students of a nearby academy and schools, where the accident took place, would have had a tough time. It was a horrible experience to rush out of our houses at such short notice.”
Sanjay Rao said the toxic fumes had spread far and wide. “We were asked to shift since ammonia had leaked in our area. We are 600 mtrs away and yet, we could smell the leaking ammonia from our house,” said Rao.
