Grief Engulfs Odisha Villages as Tamil Nadu Gas Leak Victims Return Home

A pall of gloom descended over several villages in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Wednesday as the bodies of five women workers who died in the ammonia gas leak incident in Tamil Nadu were brought back to their native places for their final rites.

Emotional scenes unfolded in Kodipasa, Talachampei, Rangamatia and Tangiri villages as grieving family members, relatives and villagers gathered to pay their last respects to the deceased. 

Two of the victims belonged to Tangiri village, while one each hailed from Kodipasa, Talachampei and



Rangamatia.

The women were among those affected by the ammonia gas leak at a seafood processing unit in Periyapalayam in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district on June 19. With two more workers succumbing to their injuries during treatment, the death toll among workers from Odisha's Keonjhar district has risen to seven.

The tragedy has left several families devastated, as many of the victims were the primary earners in economically vulnerable households. They had migrated to Tamil Nadu in search of better employment opportunities and were supporting their families through their earnings.