More than 20 villagers in Xiantao, Hubei Province were suspected of poisoning due to the leakage of toxic substances from chemical plants.
A chemical plant in Xiantao City, Hubei Province leaked toxic substances and polluted tap water, causing more than 20 villagers to be poisoned.
On October 11th, Mr. Xu, a villager from Magou Village, pengchang, Xiantao City, Hubei Province, told The Paper that on October 1st, his parents had "vomiting and diarrhea" after dinner, and his father also had symptoms of "unable to move his limbs and unclear consciousness" and was taken to the hospital for rescue. Mr. Xu revealed that on the night of the incident, many villagers in the same village and nearby daling village also had the same symptoms, and the hospital initially judged it as "food poisoning".
Poisoned villagers in hospital
On the morning of 11th, a staff member of Xiantao Municipal Government confirmed to The Paper that many people were poisoned by toxic substances leaking from a chemical plant in pengchang. After preliminary investigation, a toxic substance leaked from Hubei Zhanpeng New Materials Co., Ltd., a company involved, which caused tap water pollution and exceeded the standard of barium metal. After the incident, the enterprises involved were ordered to stop production. At present, the relevant departments of the local government are investigating the specific situation.
According to Mr. Xu, according to his mother’s memory, the tap water used that day was no different from usual, but the dishes made were bitter. "My father has the behavior of drinking tap water directly, so the symptoms are much heavier than those of my mother." Mr. Xu said that his father had been treated in ICU for 10 days. During the period, the hospital issued several critical notices. At present, his father is still in a coma
The doctor-patient communication record provided by Mr. Xu on October 3 showed that his father was diagnosed as "acute respiratory failure, toxic encephalopathy, hypokalemia" and so on, and his condition was critical.
Xu Hai (a pseudonym), a villager in the same village, told The Paper that in the evening of October 1, he also developed symptoms of "vomiting and diarrhea, and his limbs could not move" after dinner, and he was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment in the early morning of October 2. After five days of treatment, she was discharged from the hospital and is in good health.
"On October 2, the hospital also opened a green channel to receive patients with the same symptoms." Xu Hai said that on the second day after the incident, the tap water supply in Magou Village and daling village stopped until October 7. "We all dare not use tap water and drink pure water we bought ourselves."
In this regard, on October 11, a staff member of Xiantao Municipal People’s Government introduced that the poisoning accident was caused by the leakage of toxic substances from Hubei Zhanpeng New Materials Co., Ltd., causing tap water pollution, and 24 people went to the hospital for treatment. At present, 22 people have been discharged from the hospital, and the remaining 2 people have no symptoms of poisoning and are still receiving treatment for their own basic diseases in the hospital.
The aforementioned staff said that after the incident, the enterprises involved were ordered to stop production. At present, the enterprise has resumed production after rectification. As for the specific situation, relevant departments of the local government are still investigating.
According to the upstream news, officials involved in the investigation in pengchang said that the police had controlled the relevant personnel.
Eye-catching shows that Hubei Zhanpeng New Materials Co., Ltd. was established in August 2004, and its main business is research and development, production and sales of various electronic-grade and nano-grade functional ceramic powder materials (mainly barium carbonate and titanium dioxide at present). The main products are high-purity barium carbonate and titanium dioxide basic powder.
The Paper noted that the company had been punished by the local environmental protection department for discharging water pollutants exceeding the national or local water pollutant discharge standards for three consecutive years. On August 22, 2017, Xiantao Environmental Monitoring Station cooperated with Pengchang Environmental Protection Station of Xiantao City to sample and monitor the total wastewater discharge outlet of the company. The monitoring data showed that the ammonia nitrogen emission concentration of the total discharge outlet was 153mg/L (the discharge standard was 15mg/L), which exceeded the standard by 9.2 times. Xiantao Environmental Protection Bureau imposed a fine of 17,241 yuan on the company, which was five times the amount of sewage charges paid.
(The Paper reporter Liao Yan intern Jiang Longqing)