Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Cancer deaths haunt village
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-01 09:43

More than 40 people have died of cancer in barely 10 years in a small village in southern Guangdong Province.

The cause of the shockingly high death rate was still unknown, the Southern Metropolitan News reported Wednesday.

Longdou Village, 60 kilometers south of Leizhou City, has a population of 800. According to the report, the villagers had enjoyed average health for hundreds of years until the early 1990s.

During the past 10 years, the village came under a shadow of unexplained illness and death. People frequently fell ill, and most looked pale and haggard. A woman seldom weighed more than 55 kilograms and a man seldom more than 60kg.

The situation was particularly serious for the elderly, whose life expectancy was shockingly short in a well-to-do area. There were less than 20 people aged above 60.

More than 60 people died of serious diseases in the past 10 years, and more than 40 died of cancer.

One of the victims, Chen Dang, died of liver caner at the age of 30 in 2001. A few months later, his parents both died of the same disease, leaving his 8-year-old daughter alone.

An investigation showed that the drinking water piped from four wells failed to meet national standards, and could be a possible cause of the sicknesses.

However, some experts doubted the assumption because the water has been used for generations.

The report said the well water had an unusually high iron content and had a bitter taste. Villagers using the water to cook rice said the cooked rice would turn sour only two hours later.

Chen Zhi, a local farmer, said he piped water to irrigate his 0.26-hectare rice seedling bed, but had an output of merely 200 kilograms. Livestock drinking the water also grew slowly, he said.

Authorities had renewed investigations in June but the cause was still unknown, the report said.



Gong Li portarys Chinese version of 'Cold Mountain'
Paris Hilton to publish 198-page memoir
Chinese 'sorcerer' kills 10 then sells bodies
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Zhou: Opposing Taiwan independence key to US ties

 

   
 

Athletes greeted by applause back home

 

   
 

IPOs suspended for new pricing rule

 

   
 

Construction fees included in airfares

 

   
 

Bush recants terror war words; nominated

 

   
 

Re-building the ancient Silk Road

 

   
  Cancer deaths haunt village
   
  Photo tells parents of Yangyang's fate
   
  Actress Theron hurt on germany film set
   
  Six-minute love searching
   
  NASA plans to announce new class of planets
   
  China announces gene bank to clone pandas
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Feature  
  Chinese Lady Dai leaves Egyptian mummies for dead  
Advertisement