One person was killed and 12 others were injured by carbon monoxide in a factory in Anhui Province on Saturday evening, local authorities said on Sunday.

The accident happened at about 8:30 p.m. in a factory of the Anhui Conch Cement Company, when four workers were doing maintenance on the dust collection system in a furnace, a Zongyang county government official said.

Two people outside the furnace came in to carry out a rescue after they found a worker in the furnace had fainted. More people then came to help.

"I heard somebody crying for help below. We went down to help. I lost consciousness about 10 minutes later," said a worker surnamed Liu, who is being treated at the Zongyang County People's Hospital.

Among the 13 workers who were poisoned, one died en route to the hospital. Eight were treated and released.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2009)