Chinese county warns tap water unsafe after chemical spill

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — Officials in central China told residents not to drink the tap water after a chemical spill tainted supplies, reportedly killing one and sickening hundreds.

The spill fouled local water supplies in Chenxi county in Hunan province and caused hundreds of people to seek treatment for apparent poisoning symptoms including paralysis, local hospitals and state media reports said.

A doctor at a Chenxi hospital told AFP by phone on Thursday that at least one person died from drinking poisoned water, reportedly caused by a leak at a chemical plant that seeped into groundwater and local waterways.

An official in the county government told AFP on Friday 65 people had fallen ill, 26 seriously, but denied anyone had died.

"Residents are being told...