湖北仙桃造纸厂4名工人中毒身亡

WUHAN - Four workers were suffocated to death Monday while cleaning a waste pulp sink at a paper mill in central China's Hubei province, local authorities said.

周一中国中部湖北省一家造纸厂四名员工在清理废弃纸浆池时窒息死亡，当地当局报道。

A preliminary investigation indicated they were poisoned by toxic gas, the city government of Xiantao said in a press release Tuesday.

初步调查显示死者死于毒气中毒，仙桃市市政府在周二的通讯稿上说。

It said the accident happened at 9 am at Shengda Paper Industrial Co Ltd. in Zhanggou Township.

该事故于上午9时发生在张沟镇盛大纸业有限公司。

Qiao Bencai, a temporary employee, was sent down the 2.8-meter deep sink at 8:30 am, but passed out while cleaning the waste pulp, the document said.

临时工乔本才于8：30被派去2.8米深的纸浆池，但是在清理这个废弃池时晕倒。

Three colleagues, including a workshop manager, went down to his rescue, but fainted in the sink, too.

3名同事，包括车间主任，在下去施救时也晕倒了。

All four had died when they were pulled out.

当他们被拉出时，4人都已死亡。

It said the exact cause of their deaths was still under investigation.

据说他们死亡的具体原因尚在调查中。

Many paper mills use chlorine gas to bleach pulp for white paper and dangerous pollution is often created as a byproduct.

很多造纸厂用氯气漂泊纸浆生产白纸，但是同时还会有有毒气体产生。