India Probes Suspected Gas Leak at Factory That Supplies Apparel Brands

The incident took place at a factory inside Brandix India Apparel City, a special economic zone located near the port city of Visakhapatnam in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Manufacturers located there supply to brands including

Victoria’s Secret

& Co.,

H&M Hennes & Mauritz

AB and

Gap Inc.,

according to information on BIAC’s website.

Seeds Intimate Apparel India Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer of bras that ran the factory, said in a statement shared through a BIAC spokesman that some of its workers at its facility on Tuesday evening “complained of an unpleasant odor in the atmosphere.”

“As a result some of them were taken to the closest hospital for medical precaution,” it said. “The affected associates are in a stable condition,” it added.

Local news reports said affected workers had reported symptoms including nausea, headache, cough and difficulty breathing.

Gudivada Amarnath,

the state’s industry minister, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday after meeting sick workers at a nearby public hospital that the government would take strict action against those responsible for this week’s safety lapse. The state government on Wednesday also said the factory would be closed until the cause of the incident is known.

As of Thursday, the exact cause and source of the alleged leak and the sickness of workers was still under investigation by local authorities, the spokesman for BIAC said. He said it was the second such incident of suspected air contamination resulting in workers falling ill at the BIAC complex, after a similar incident in June.

According to the apparel hub’s website, the company is a joint venture between Sri Lanka’s Brandix Lanka Ltd., U.S.-based Brandot International Ltd., and Hong Kong-based apparel maker Clover Group International…