In a devastating update to one of the year’s worst industrial accidents, the death toll from the ammonia gas leak at a seafood processing unit in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district has climbed to 12.
The latest victim is Kabita Juang, a young woman from the Telkoi area of Odisha’s Keonjhar district, who passed away while undergoing treatment.
Media Bulletin : Ammonia Gas Leak Incident.
Date : 27.06.2026 pic.twitter.com/uixs737FOv
— Office of Health Minister Tamil Nadu (@HM_TamilNadu) June 27, 2026
Kabita had migrated hundreds of kilometres from her village in search of work. Like hundreds of other young tribal women, she found employment at the Peter & Paul Seafood Export Company in Kannigaipair village near Periyapalayam. On June 21, a sudden leak from the factory’s refrigeration system released toxic ammonia gas, turning a routine workday into a nightmare.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos as workers collapsed, gasping for breath, their eyes burning and lungs filling with the pungent gas. More than 80 people, predominantly migrant women from Odisha, Assam, and Jharkhand, were exposed. Many remain hospitalised with severe respiratory distress, some on ventilators.
The Juang community from Keonjhar has been hit especially hard. Several young women from the same villages travelled together for these jobs, only for tragedy to strike. Families back home, already struggling with poverty, are now mourning daughters who were the sole breadwinners.
The Odisha government facilitated the return of 62 migrant workers after an ammonia gas leak at a seafood factory in Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu. Most workers are from Keonjhar. Officials arranged transport to home districts, while Rs 10 lakh ex gratia was announced for the families of deceased workers
