India, March 3 -- A massive leak of hazardous oleum gas at a chemical unit in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Monday led to the evacuation of over 2,600 people, including 1,600 school students, while three persons complained of minor eye irritation, officials said.

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 and led to the evacuation as a precautionary measure, they said. The leak, which occurred around 2 pm at the unit of Bhageria Industries Ltd, created a dense cloud of white fumes that spread rapidly due to wind velocity, causing panic among residents and workers in the industrial belt.

The cause of the gas leak was not immediatel...