Twenty-seven killed, 285 poisoned in east China chlorine leak

BEIJING, Wednesday (AFP) Twenty-seven people were killed and 285 were sickened when liquefied chlorine spilled from a truck following a collision in east China's Jiangsu province, state media said Wednesday.

The accident happened Tuesday in Huai'an city when a truck carrying 35 tons of the chemical careened out of control after a tire exploded and it rammed into a cargo truck, the Xinhua news agency said. Both vehicles overturned, killing one of the two drivers.

The highly irritating, greenish-yellow chlorine gas wafted into several nearby villages, poisoning 285 people and killing 27, Xinhua said.

Contact with chlorine fumes can cause dizziness, vomiting, coughing and breathing difficulties.