A chemical leak on Wednesday night at a chemical plant in a village in Wenjiang District of Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan Province, sent 38 people to hospital.

All the victims are out of danger and in stable conditions, said sources from the Wenjiang District People's Hospital.

The accident happened in Qingyou Village in Wenjiang District where Chengdu Taixiao Chemical Co. Ltd. produces an animal medicine.

As part of the manufacturing process, the catalytic agent hemiacetal is used. A technician in the company found that both the temperature and pressure in a reactor were unusually high. The pressure needed to be reduced but when he did this, toxic gas leaked from the reactor for at least five minutes, creating a 20-meter-high mushroom cloud, said Ma Xiaochun, chief of the company's general office.

Ma added that the company has suspended operations and is taking full responsibility for the accident.

The toxic cloud engulfed all of Qingyou Village and its 60 or so households. The pungent smell drove the villagers out of their homes. "Most of them vomited and felt dizzy," Hu Jian, a 25-year-old local, said.

Firefighters rushed to the scene, using water cannons to dilute the gas.

Firefighters also conducted a door-to-door evacuation of the village.

It was not until yesterday morning that villagers were able to return home.

(China Daily June 17, 2005)