Ammonia Leak at Basra Fertilizer Plant Kills Two, Injures 114
Two people died and 114 others suffered breathing difficulties after an ammonia gas leak at a fertilizer plant in Basra, Iraq's Health Ministry said.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Two people died and 114 others suffered breathing difficulties after an ammonia gas leak at a fertilizer facility in Basra province, Iraq's Ministry of Health said Monday.
Health Ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr said emergency teams treated those affected following the leak at the Southern Fertilizer Plant in the Khor al-Zubair area.
More than 50 ambulances were dispatched to respond to the incident, according to the ministry.
Al-Badr said most of those affected were in stable condition by Monday, with 21 people remaining hospitalized.
Twelve were receiving treatment at al-Zubair Hospital, two at al-Sayyab Hospital and seven at al-Kuwaiti Hospital, he said.
The leak was first reported Sunday evening, when a security source said several people had experienced breathing difficulties after ammonia escaped from the plant.
The precise circumstances surrounding the release remain unclear.
Shafaq News, citing the Health Ministry and a security source, also reported two deaths and 114 injuries and said authorities had not yet determined what caused the incident.
No information was provided in the supplied reporting about how long the leak continued, the quantity of ammonia released or whether operations at the fertilizer plant had been suspended.
Ammonia is commonly used in fertilizer manufacturing. Shafaq News noted that exposure to high concentrations can severely irritate the eyes and respiratory tract, cause breathing problems and damage the lungs. Exposure at extremely high levels can be fatal.
The incident places attention on emergency preparedness and industrial safety at facilities handling hazardous chemicals in Basra, one of Iraq's principal industrial and energy-producing provinces.
The Health Ministry's deployment of more than 50 ambulances indicates the scale of the immediate medical response, although most patients had been discharged or no longer required hospital treatment by Monday.
Authorities had not announced the findings of any technical investigation into the source of the leak by the time of the supplied reports.
Further details are expected to determine whether the release resulted from an equipment failure, operational incident or another cause. For now, Iraqi health authorities have confirmed two fatalities, while medical teams continue treating the 21 patients who remain hospitalized.