The State Council of China on Wednesday reported seven cases of leaks of lethal chemical products in the past week, which claimed a total of 21 lives across the country.

The latest was a hydrogen cyanide gas leak on Tuesday from a gold mining plant in Beijing's suburban district of Huairou that killed three people and left another 15 hospitalized.

Another six fatal leakage included Wednesday's explosion of a toluene reaction facility in a pharmaceutical plant in Taizhou City in Zhejiang Province, east China, in which two were killed.

Nine people were killed on April 16 by blasts in the wake of a chlorine gas leak at Tianyuan Chemical Industry Plant in Jiangbei district of southwestern Chongqing Municipality.

A poisoning accident at a privately-owned refinery in Maoming City in Guangdong province, south China, left three people dead on April 19.

On April 20, an oil tanker at the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, east China, exploded when it was being serviced, killing two people.

On the same day, two people were killed in an explosion at Jihua Group Company in Jilin Province, northeast China, and a leak of waste chlorine in Jiangxi Axunge Plant also left many injured.

A circular, issued by the Office of the Committee for Safety in Production under the State Council, China's cabinet, blamed the fatal accidents for insufficient safety prevention and outdated production equipment.

The circular required that all localities learn from the seven accidents and launch immediate safety inspection of enterprises engaged in production, storage, trade, transport, usage and disposal of dangerous chemical products.

Source: Xinhua