One person died and over a 100 people fell sick when chlorine gas leaked from a filter house in Orissa's Sambalpur town on Friday night.

Residents said the gas, stored for cleaning drinking water, started leaking in the evening and later spread alarmingly, creating panic among the residents living around the filter house.

The police was informed of the incident around 9 pm.

"Over a 100 people have been moved to the Veer Surendra Sai medical college hospital at Burla for treatment," deputy district police chief Gopal Tripathy told rediff.

One person, Sadananda Girla, died on his way to hospital. All others, who were hospitalised, were out of danger, he added.

Raghunath Pradhan, additional district magistrate, Sambalpur, said an inquiry was being conducted into the mishap.

The local sub-collector, executive engineer, public health department and sub-divisional police officer would jointly conduct the probe, he added.