Four people have been hospitalized for disease caused by a radiation source in this capital of Heilongjiang Province, the city environmental protection agency said on Saturday.

The four, including a 12-year-old girl, her 81-year-old grandmother, a 9-year-old boy and his mother, were all from the same residential building at Daoli District of Harbin.

The radiation source has been identified as iridium-192, which is usually used for industrial flaw detection, said sources with the provincial supervision station for radiative environment.

Wang Shuye, a doctor with the No. 1 Hospital affiliated to the Harbin Medical University, said the four people had been diagnosed as having acute myelopatlic radiation disease, with their white blood cells and platelets much lower than the average standards.

All of the four are in critical conditions, and the 81-year-oldhas been in a coma, according to the doctor. The parents of the 9-year-old boy have also had their major blood indicators falling down.

The supervision station has detected the radiation source at the home of Bai Yuhai, the father of the boy, who said the source was picked up by his son.

The radiation source detected has been recovered and stored safely at the supervision station, sources with station said.

Some of residents at the areas affected by the radiation source have had physical examination. The provincial environmental protection authorities have urged an immediate check of radiation sources across the province.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2005)