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China. Health officials probe deaths of Chinese quartz workers - Xinhua
Health officials probe deaths of Chinese quartz workers
www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-20 16:34:50
SHUIFU, Yunnan Province, March 20 (Xinhua) --
China's Health Ministry has dispatched a team to the southwestern Yunnan Province to investigate the unexplained deaths of 12 people, who had all worked in quartz plants.
The team arrived late Thursday in the Shuifu county, of Zhaotong city, where, according to local sources, 12 villagers had died from a "strange disease" from October 2006 to December 2008.
The illness had been diagnosed as bronchitis, heart disease, tuberculosis and pneumoconiosis by local hospitals or clinics, said Gao Wenhui, vice head of the Shuifu county.
The dead had all worked at some stage in quartz processing plants in Guangou village in Fengyang county, Chuzhou city, east China's Anhui Province, he said.
A total of 77 villagers from Shuifu had worked in Guangou, of whom more than 30 had developed symptoms of coughing, dizziness and breathing difficulties since 2006.
Twenty-one, including three seriously ill, are still in hospital in Shuifu County.
Li Zhengyou, a Tangkou villager, said Guangou had many quartz plants, where visibility was low due to thick floating dust.
"Our job was to smash the ore, sift and pack it," Li said. Liu Shuxiang, of Shanqu village, had worked in Guangou in 2004 and 2005.
"We wore gauze masks, but the effect was limited," he said. "Every day after work, our throats and nostrils were filled with dust. We didn't know if it was harmful, and the boss never told us."
The Health Ministry has ordered Anhui provincial health department to investigate the factories, and experts in occupational diseases were sent to Anhui on Wednesday, said Mao Qun'an, spokesman with the ministry.
Editor: Deng Shasha
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<cite cite="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/20/content_11043243.htm">Health officials probe deaths of Chinese quartz workers_English_Xinhua</cite>www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-20 16:34:50
SHUIFU, Yunnan Province, March 20 (Xinhua) --
China's Health Ministry has dispatched a team to the southwestern Yunnan Province to investigate the unexplained deaths of 12 people, who had all worked in quartz plants.
The team arrived late Thursday in the Shuifu county, of Zhaotong city, where, according to local sources, 12 villagers had died from a "strange disease" from October 2006 to December 2008.
The illness had been diagnosed as bronchitis, heart disease, tuberculosis and pneumoconiosis by local hospitals or clinics, said Gao Wenhui, vice head of the Shuifu county.
The dead had all worked at some stage in quartz processing plants in Guangou village in Fengyang county, Chuzhou city, east China's Anhui Province, he said.
A total of 77 villagers from Shuifu had worked in Guangou, of whom more than 30 had developed symptoms of coughing, dizziness and breathing difficulties since 2006.
Twenty-one, including three seriously ill, are still in hospital in Shuifu County.
Li Zhengyou, a Tangkou villager, said Guangou had many quartz plants, where visibility was low due to thick floating dust.
"Our job was to smash the ore, sift and pack it," Li said. Liu Shuxiang, of Shanqu village, had worked in Guangou in 2004 and 2005.
"We wore gauze masks, but the effect was limited," he said. "Every day after work, our throats and nostrils were filled with dust. We didn't know if it was harmful, and the boss never told us."
The Health Ministry has ordered Anhui provincial health department to investigate the factories, and experts in occupational diseases were sent to Anhui on Wednesday, said Mao Qun'an, spokesman with the ministry.
Editor: Deng Shasha
-