At least nine people are dead and hundreds hospitalized due to a chemical gas leak at an LG Chem plant in India that spread into the surrounding city. 

According to Reuters on Thursday, the leak occurred at an LG Polymers plant in the city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state.  

AFP quoted local police as saying that between 200 and 500 people are being treated in hospitals and that more than 70 of them are unconscious.  

The Times of India said among the deceased was an eight-year-old girl and that more than five-thousand people fell sick because of the gas leak. It said the leak occurred around 3 a.m. Thursday, adding that many people were seen lying unconscious on roads while some faced breathing difficulties. 

According to the police, the gas leaked from two five-thousand-ton tanks in the plant, and at that time, it was nearly empty as India has been in lockdown due to COVID-19 since March 25. 

Local authorities have dispatched rescue workers and police officers to the plant to find out the exact cause of the toxic leak.