MUMBAI: At least 60 people were taken to hospital on Wednesday after a leak of chlorine gas in a sprawling industrial district of the Indian city of Mumbai, emergency services said.

Mumbai Fire Brigade chief fire officer Uday Tatkare said the leak happened in the Sewri area of the city owned by the Mumbai Port Trust.

"One of three cylinders stored in a courtyard at a warehouse owned by the Trust leaked. The leakage has been brought under control and we are in damage control mode," he told AFP by telephone from the scene.

Four firefighters who were sent to the scene were among those in hospital but were in a stable condition, he added.

A total of 58 people were taken to the state-run Jamshetjee Jejeebhoy Hospital for treatment for "breathlessness, suffocation and nausea", a spokesman said.

Eight were in a critical condition in intensive care, he added.

Two people were also being treated at the King Edward Memorial Hospital but their condition was not said to be life-threatening, a spokesman said.

The land owned by the Mumbai Port Trust is an industrial area mainly used for storage and delivery of cargo and containers. It has many derelict factories and warehouses and is also home to a huge slum.

No one was immediately available for comment at the Port Trust.

Television pictures showed firefighters in protective suits spraying metal cylinders. The area around the warehouse was cordoned off.

BDST 11.14 HRS, JULY 14, 2010