A natural gas leak from a pipeline has left five dead and another one in a critical condition in Suzhou, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Five people - three men, a woman and a boy - were found dead on Thursday afternoon in a garage in Sanyuansan Village in Suzhou City, police said.

Investigations showed that the gas had come from a leaking pipeline.

An elderly woman fell ill from gas poisoning in another garage within the same building Thursday morning and is receiving emergency treatment in hospital. She is still in a critical condition, hospital sources said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2007)