ISLAMABAD, April 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 people, including children, were left unconscious on Wednesday after ammonia gas leaked from an ice factory in Sargodha district of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, local media reported.
Local Urdu TV channels quoted police as saying that several workers of the ice factory and people living in the neighboring houses got affected after the gas leaked from the factory in Bhalwal area of Sargodha district.
Following the incident, an emergency was declared in the area where police and rescue teams launched a search operation in the neighboring locality and rescued people who had fallen unconscious in their houses.
All the affected people, including a majority of children, were shifted to different hospitals.
The strong gas leakage created panic and forced a number of people to run away to other areas to avoid the gas effects.
Police announced to register a case under the charges of criminal negligence after completing an investigation into the incident.
Earlier in March, a woman was killed and several others fell unconscious after ammonia gas leaked from an ice factory in Toba Tek Singh district of Punjab.
