A medical expert said?on Friday afternoon that more victims
who had been exposed to mustard gas left behind by Japanese troops
at the end of World War II might yet show up, but that victims
would not infect other people.
Speaking at a press briefing, Qin Ke, deputy director of the
Qiqihar City health bureau said the 41 people hospitalized had been
directly exposed to the mustard gas or had been in contact with the
earth polluted by the toxic agent.
The toxic mustard gas was leaked from drums of chemicals left
behind by Japanese troops at the end of World War II near the city
of Qiqihar, in northeast China's Heilongjiang
Province.
As the period from direct contact with the nerve gas to illness
can range from several hours to one month, more victims might
emerge in the future, acknowledged doctors at the No 203 Hospital
of the People's Liberation Army, where the victims are being
treated.
The chemicals, discovered early last week at a construction
site, were stored in five metal drums, one of which was
accidentally broken, releasing an oil-like substance into the
soil.
Unaware of the nature of the material, two workers later bought the
five drums, cut them up, and then sold the scrap to a waste
treatment depot in a residential area.
The situation deteriorated when the polluted soil from the
construction site was removed to several different places.
Technical experts and the relevant Japanese personnel later
confirmed the five drums contained mustard gas left by the Japanese
intruders at the close of World War II.
?(China Daily August 16, 2003)
