Two people were poisoned to death and more than 300 others were hospitalized following a liquefied chlorine leakage which was caused by a truck collision Tuesday in Huai'an City of Jiangsu Province, sources said Wednesday.

A tank truck carrying 30 tons of liquefied chlorine ran out of control after one of its tires exploded suddenly and rammed into a cargo truck at about 7:00 p.m. Tuesday on the Huai'an section of the Beijing-Shanghai expressway. Both trucks turned over, killing one of the two drivers.

Chlorine leaking from the tank spread all over several nearby villages, poisoning more than 300 villagers and claiming two lives.

By 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, rescuers were tying to prevent the chlorine left inside the tank truck from leaking. Chlorine left inside the tank truck is estimated at some 10 tons.

The local government has evacuated 3,000 households of villagers to safe places, according to officials.

(eastday.com March 30, 2005)