Thirty-four villagers in south China's Guangdong Province were hospitalized on Sunday after developing symptoms of poisoning that may have been caused by industrial river pollution, the local government said.

A source said that those affected, from Lingxia Village of Yingde City's Hengshitang Township, suffered abdominal pains and vomiting after drinking water from a local river.

They were immediately sent to local hospitals, and where seven of them remained as of noon yesterday.

Preliminary investigations found that the river had been polluted by wastewater discharged from mineral plants on its upper reaches.

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2005)