Chinese factory poisons hundreds

Hundreds of residents near a Chinese chemical plant have been found to have high levels of a dangerous metal in their bodies, after a series of leaks.

Thirty-three of them were admitted to hospitals in Hunan province over the weekend with cadmium poisoning, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Production at the Changsha Xianghe plant in Liuyang stopped earlier this year, shortly before two people died.

Cadmium can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs, nervous system and brain.

Compounds containing the highly toxic metal, which is used in batteries, are also carcinogenic.

Officials suspended

Medical tests were carried out on nearly 3,000 residents of Zhentou township over the weekend following a protest on Thursday, involving about 1,000 people.

CADMIUM Carcinogenic chemical used in batteries Can cause liver and kidney damage and bone disease Affects central nervous and immune systems

Xinhua said people had been seeking a government investigation of the plant since 2007, but that the local authorities had failed to act.

They had complained deadly pollutants were frequently being discharged illegally into water that irrigated their fields, it added.

The plant, which produced zinc sulphate, was eventually shut down in April.

But two people who lived nearby died in May and June. Autopsies found high levels of cadmium in their bodies, causing widespread panic among their neighbours.

Following last week's protest, the plant was closed "forever", its director detained and two officials from the municipal environmental protection bureau were suspended, Xinhua said.

The authorities would also compensate villagers for tainted farm produce and livestock which had to be destroyed, it added.