2nd lead poisoning case hits China, 1,300 sick [View All]

By ALEXA OLESEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


In this photo taken on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, village children wait for blood tests at a school in Fengxiang county, Shaanxi province, China, after the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. plant poisoned hundreds of children More than 1,300 children have been sickened by lead poisoning in Hunan province, the second such case involving a large number of children this month, state media said Thursday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

BEIJING -- China detained two factory officials after 1,300 children were poisoned by pollution from a manganese processing plant, state media said Thursday, days after emissions from a lead smelter in another province sickened hundreds.

Both cases have sparked unrest and come amid growing anger in China over public safety scandals in which children have been the main victims. Tainted infant formula milk and the mass collapse of schools in a huge earthquake last year have also provoked widespread dissent.

The latest incident involves the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in Wenping township, central Hunan province. It opened in May 2008 without the approval of the local environmental protection bureau, within 500 yards (meters) of a primary school, a middle school and a kindergarten.


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