Beijing, July 20: More than 1,000 people have been evacuated and four factory workers were sent to the hospital after a chemical leak at a shoe factory in eastern China over the weekend.
A report on the Wenzhou government web site said people from surrounding businesses and homes were evacuated after 20 tons of the chemical styrene leaked from containers at the Hongchang Shoe Materials Co. Ltd. in Wenzhou city in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on Sunday.
The report said the four workers were taken to the hospital after they suffered from nose, eye and throat irritation after coming in contact with the carcinogenic liquid chemical used to make rubber and plastic.
Calls to the Wenzhou city government were unanswered early Monday. The cause of the leak is still under investigation.
-Agencies