India, March 3 -- Around 2,600 people were evacuated after panic gripped the residents of Palghar in Maharashtra following a massive leak of hazardous oleum gas at a chemical unit in the district on Monday.

The impact of the gas leak was so severe that residents living within a three to four-kilometre radius are experiencing symptoms such as eye irritation, coughing, and difficulty breathing, ANI reported.

Officials later said there was no possibility of life-threatening situation and clarified that the concerned authorities have covered almost 90 to 95 per cent of the spillage at the spot.

The oleum (fuming sulphuric acid) gas leak affected areas in a five-kilometre radius of the unit in the Boisar MIDC locality on Mumbai's outskirts ...