A gas poisoning accident has sent 43 students to hospital
Saturday morning when they were participating a birthday party at a
night club in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region.
More than 20 students are receiving treatment, while the rest
have been discharged from hospital, said Dai Yiqiang, an official
with the city's public security department.
"Doctors said the patients are all out of danger, but they need
time for recovery," said Dai.
The gas poisoning was caused by the malfunction of the fuel
generator at the night club, said Dai.
All the victims are students from a transportation technology
school of Urumqi and they gathered at the night club on Friday
night to celebrate the birthday of one of the students.
However, some of the students began to feel dizzy at around 7
a.m. on Saturday and some even fainted later, said witnesses.
Investigation shows the night club began to use a fuel generator
to maintain its electricity after a power cut on early Saturday
morning. However, the malfunction of the generator has caused fuel
deficient combustion and produces a large quantity of toxic carbon
monoxide.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2007)