Four people have been hospitalized for disease caused by a
radiation source in this capital of Heilongjiang
Province, the city environmental protection agency said on
Saturday.
The four, including a 12-year-old girl, her 81-year-old
grandmother, a 9-year-old boy and his mother, were all from the
same residential building at Daoli District of Harbin.
The radiation source has been identified as iridium-192, which
is usually used for industrial flaw detection, said sources with
the provincial supervision station for radiative environment.
Wang Shuye, a doctor with the No. 1 Hospital affiliated to the
Harbin Medical University, said the four people had been diagnosed
as having acute myelopatlic radiation disease, with their white
blood cells and platelets much lower than the average
standards.
All of the four are in critical conditions, and the
81-year-oldhas been in a coma, according to the doctor. The parents
of the 9-year-old boy have also had their major blood indicators
falling down.
The supervision station has detected the radiation source at the
home of Bai Yuhai, the father of the boy, who said the source was
picked up by his son.
The radiation source detected has been recovered and stored
safely at the supervision station, sources with station said.
Some of residents at the areas affected by the radiation source
have had physical examination. The provincial environmental
protection authorities have urged an immediate check of radiation
sources across the province.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2005)