KASUR: Up to 25 labourers of a textile mills were hospitalised on Thursday after consuming toxic water on the mills premises at Basti Lal Shah, Kot Radha Kishan.

Of them, five were reported to be in a serious condition and were referred to Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital.

The incident sparked protest among the workers that took to road against the mills administration. They blocked Multan Road by burning tyres.

The incident occurred at AZGARD-9 factory in Kot Radha Kishan. The condition of dozens of workers started deteriorating when they drank water from the canteen of the mills. The canteen gets water from a tank on the mills premises.

Rescue 1122 and local residents shifted the workers to Manga Mandi Social Security Hospital and the Kot Radha Kishan Tehsil Headquarters Hospital. Those admitted to the Manga Mandi Social Security Hospital are Usman, Nadeem Tariq, Umair, Fiaz, Altaf Khan, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Afzal, Altaf Ahmed, Iftikhar and Asif. Most of the workers are of ages 20 to 30.

Families of the workers rushed to the mills while a large number of people of the surroundings also gathered at the scene.

According to some workers, the mills administration fled after seeing workers in rage.

The tehsil administration issued a statement rejecting rumours that five workers had died while dozens were in a critical condition.

The police arrived at the scene and locked the gates of the mills.

Scores of mills workers staged a protest demonstration in front of the mills and chanted slogans against the mills administration. They also sought legal action against the mill owner.

Due to the intervention of police, the workers moved to Manga Road. Later, they turned to Multan Road and blocked it for traffic for a couple of hours.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2018