"Yard-701, being built by Mazagaon Docks Limited, while undergoing machinery trials in Mumbai Port Trust had a malfunction in its carbon dioxide unit, leading to gas leakage," an MDL spokesperson said.
Prakash said that at about 1245 hours during fire fighting testing, the CO2 bottle neck opened accidentally, releasing the gas.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress- led UPA government of indulging in scams and jeopardising the country's defence preparedness by not focusing on the equipment needs of the armed forces and stalling the procurement process.
"This is the 11th serious accident in past 11 months. This is the result of complete neglect of the Navy by the Congress-led UPA government. Defence Minister Antony must take the responsibility and resign forthwith," he said.
His party colleague Ravishankar Prasad said the defence of the country has been "weakened and compromised".
