42-year-old senior chemist M Poli Naidu died in hospital on 8 September, after inhaling methanol and another compound which leaked from a chemical centrifuge tank on 5 September at a Deccan Remedies plant near Visakhapatnam in southern India.

The Andhra Pradesh state government’s deputy inspector of factories, K Parmeswara Rao, told Chemistry World that preliminary investigations indicated that the centrifuge from which the leak occurred contained methanol and 2-amino-5-chloropyridine, whose vapours Naidu had inhaled. Rao confirmed that the chemist was not wearing any protective gear barring a dust mask. The post mortem report has not yet been received and a full investigation is underway. According to the police, a criminal case has been registered. Rao says his department will also be lodging a case under the Factories Act in due course.

Local trade unionist Ganisetty Satyanarayana – honorary president of the Pharma Workers Union, which is affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions – accused the company of negligence and not following safety standards while attempting to suppress the incident. He demanded criminal action against the company and its officials. His union has demanded a thorough inquiry by the district collector and compensation of ₹10 million (£83,600) for the deceased’s family.

In a parallel development in coastal Visakhaptnam, a major disaster was averted after a 7500m³ methanol storage tank caught fire following a lightning strike at East India Petroleum during a storm on 7 September. Firefighters used foam to bring the blaze under control before it could spread to four nearby diesel storage tanks. Nearly 1000 litres of methanol was destroyed in the fire, but there was no loss of life or injuries.