BEIJING: More than 200 people fell ill Wednesday in an ammonia gas leak at a pharmaceutical plant in northern China, state media reported.

The leak occurred at 9:40 am (0140 GMT) when a tanker truck was unloading 30 tonnes of liquid ammonia at the plant in Chifeng city, in Inner Mongolia, local news agency said, citing the local district government.

Twenty-one people were hospitalised and 181 others were under observation, it said.

Initial investigations suggested that the leak was caused by workers failing to operate the equipment properly and worn pipes on the truck, the report said.LINK