A leak of poisonous isoprene gas occurred on Thursday night at the Novokuybyshevsk petrochemical plant, located in the Samara region. As a result, 45 workers were poisoned by gas fumes, 27 of them were hospitalized. One of the company's employees died in intensive care. Doctors assess the condition of the remaining victims as stable. According to the Department of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations, the cause of poisoning of people was a violation of the technological process during gas production. In the city itself, the sensors of the mobile laboratory of the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not detect any excess of the permissible concentration of harmful substances. After the accident, the petrochemical plant continues to operate as usual. To investigate all the circumstances of the accident, the leadership of Gosgortekhnadzor arrived at the plant. The SIBUR company, which owns the plant, denies the preliminary conclusions of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. They claim that substances that are products of incomplete combustion of high-sulfur fuels, in particular fuel oil and coal, have entered the air. According to the company, these types of fuel are not used at the plant, and it is likely that the cloud of toxic gases entered the plant from outside. In particular, this could be a consequence of improper combustion of fuel oil in nearby boiler houses.
