The workers who were poisoned on Tuesday in a shoe factory in Shenzhen are all out of danger, sources with the factory said Wednesday.
"Most of them have come back to work," said a staff member at the factory who would not give his name.
A doctor of the Yantian District People's Hospital confirmed Wednesday that only about 10 workers are still under hospital care.
"They are still in hospital because they are not yet completely well," she said. "But none of them were ever in danger of losing their lives," she added, not willing to give her name.
The epidemic prevention station of the district has preliminarily concluded that bad mushrooms in the food of the workers caused the poisoning, a source with the Yantian District government said last night.
But he said the epidemic prevention station has not yet reached any final conclusion.
And he refused to tell whether the owner of the factory will be punished for the accident.
At around 7 pm on Tuesday, 132 workers at the shoe factory started to feel dizzy and even vomit.
Some of the affected workers recalled that when they had their supper in the canteen of the factory, they felt that one of the dishes, which contained meat and mushrooms, tasted sour.
The poisoned workers were immediately sent to the District People's Hospital.
There were so many poisoned that even corridors in the hospital were filled with workers undergoing treatment, sources with the hospital said.
Most workers recovered and left the hospital after receiving treatment on Tuesday night, according to the doctor.
"Before I left at about 11 on Tuesday night, about 20 or more were kept here for further treatment," she said.
"Now there are only around 10 workers left in the wards here," the doctor added.
The district government attached great importance to helping the poisoned workers after the accident happened.
Key district officials, including Party secretary Dai Beifang, went to the hospital on Tuesday night to see the workers.
Dai urged the hospital to treat the workers well and make sure all of them were in good condition before sending them home.
He also called for measures to be taken to avoid any other such accident.
(China Daily March 28, 2002)
