Three killed after exposure to discarded factory waste

Local officials say three people have died and another 17 required medical treatment after they were exposed to bags of toxic chemicals illegally dumped by a factory in eastern China.

The city government in Dongyang, a mountain town 60 miles (250 kilometres) south-west of Shanghai, said today that four of the people affected by the chemicals were children who played near the chemical, 2,4-dinitrophenol – a poison used in scientific research and in manufacturing various chemicals, explosives and pesticides.