The State Council of China on Wednesday noted that seven cases of lethal chemical leaks have occurred in the past week, claiming a total of 21 lives across the country. The latest was Tuesday's hydrogen cyanide gas leak from a gold processing plant in Beijing's suburban district of Huairou, which killed three people and left another 15 hospitalized.

Six other lethal leaks included Wednesday's explosion of a toluene reaction facility at a pharmaceutical plant in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, in which two were killed.

Nine people were killed on April 16 by blasts in the wake of a chlorine gas leak at Tianyuan Chemical Industry Plant in Jiangbei District, Chongqing Municipality, in southwest China.

A poisoning accident at a privately owned refinery in Maoming City in Guangdong Province, south China, left three people dead on April 19.

On April 20, an oil tanker exploded when it was being serviced at the Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, section of the Yangtze River, killing two people.

On the same day, two people were killed in an explosion at Jihua Group Company in Jilin Province, northeast China, and a leak of waste chlorine at the Jiangxi Axunge Plant left many injured.

A circular issued by the State Council's Committee for Safety in Production blamed the fatal accidents on insufficient safety precautions and outdated equipment.

The circular requires that all localities learn from the seven accidents and launch immediate safety inspections of enterprises engaged in production, storage, trade, transport, usage and disposal of dangerous chemical products.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2004)