China chemical spill kills one, poisons 125

BEIJING, Feb 2 (Reuters) Two truck-drivers in central China have turned themselves in to police after their vehicle's toxic cargo leaked along a highway for several kilometres, killing one person and poisoning at least 125, state media said.

Villagers along a five-km stretch of highway in central China's Hubei province suffered chest pains and stinging eyes after cancer-causing dimethyl sulphate leaked onto the road from the truck's tank on Tuesday night, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

The driver of a car behind the truck died from the fumes, Xinhua said. By today, 125 people had been admitted to hospital.

''Thirty people suffered medium-to-heavy poisoning, and the rest were mildly poisoned,'' Xinhua said.

Dimethyl sulphate is a highly toxic chemical used in pesticides and industrial dyes which can lead to blindness, kidney and liver damage if inhaled or absorbed through the skin in heavy doses.

REUTERS AB BST1630