IANS
 
Mumbai, Dec 16 (mb): One employee was killed and two others were injured in an accidental gas leak at the Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers plant here, the police said on Sunday.

According to police sources, the three victims were RCF employees who were engaged in cleaning the premises around 8 pm on Saturday.

The RCF plant is located in Chembur in northeast Mumbai. The police believe that one of the three employes could have accidentally touched a valve, which let off a toxic gas.

The unidentified gas engulfed the trio and they fell down unconscious. Supervisor Hariram Gopal Bharati, 31, died but it was not clear when and how the RFC authorities detected the incident.

The toxic fumes knocked down his two colleagues - Popat Gunjale and Akash Bodke - who rushed to save him. Other employees rushed them to Inns Land Hospital in Chembur.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Niket Kaushik said that since only the three victims were working in that particular area of the plant, the police have not been able to verify the cause of the gas leak.

"The latest information is that the two survivors, Gunjale and Bodke, are recovering. We shall interrogate them for the details," Kaushik said.

He said it was a localized incident and there was no cause for alarm for the people residing in and around Chembur.