A team of Chinese and Japanese specialists have finished sealing a cache of chemical weapons abandoned by Japanese troops in the northeast Chinese city of

Qiqihar during World War Two. The weapons were dug up at a local construction site in early August, killing one person and injuring 43 others.

The clean-up crew have spent this month quarantining more than 720 chemical weapons as well as five barrels of mustard gas.

 

The weapons had been stored in a warehouse but there were fears that the eroded containers could leak.

 

Each armament has been sealed in a metallic bag and then encased in a rigid container.

 

There have been no reports of accidents or environmental pollution during the clean-up process.

 

The sealed chemical weapons will be destroyed when a center built for the purpose is ready in the city.

 

Under a treaty between the two countries, chemical weapons dumped in China by the Japanese should be destroyed before 2007.

 

Countless chemical weapons abandoned by the Japanese are believed to be scattered across Northeast China. The region was a major base for Japanese troops during their war in China.

 

(CCTV November 30, 2003)