Reports on water poisoning in SW China 'incorrect': official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 23, 2004

Reports on water poisoning in SW China 'incorrect': official

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Reports by a few news organizations that more than 10,000 people in southwest China's Chongqing municipality were poisoned by polluted water from a cracked pipe were "exaggerating' and "incorrect", a spokesman for the Chongqing health department said Monday.

The pipe in an apartment building of a factory in Shapingba district cracked on Feb. 17 and health authorities received reports Saturday that some residents suffered from stomach aches and diarrhea.

Investigations showed that the water supply in the building was polluted to some extent by sewage before the pipe was repaired in wee hours of Friday.

Wu Changpei, deputy director and spokesman with the Chongqing municipal health bureau, said the incident was picked up by some media, which exaggerated the number of sufferers to over 10,000.

Actually, only some 400 residents used water supplied through the pipe, Wu noted.

Wu said that only 23 people were reported to have developed symptoms of being poisoned since the incident happened a week ago and all the sufferers were recovering.

The news reported in some media did not represent the truth, Wu said.

The health authorities have ordered the accident pipe to be shut off and a new water supply system for the apartment building is to be constructed instead, Wu said.

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