Chinese villagers flee county in radiation scare

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

BEIJING — They fled in droves, terrified by rumors of a radiation leak, with many jumping empty-handed into motorcycle taxis and farm trucks they hoped would take them out of harm's way.

While most of the residents of Henan province's Qi county had returned by Monday amid government assurances it was safe, last week's mass exodus — some residents estimated that hundreds of thousands of people left — illustrates how quickly rumors can spread and cause alarm in China.

The unease was sparked Friday, when bystanders saw government workers at a factory using robots to examine a cobalt-60 irradiator that had malfunctioned. The machine is used mainly for sterilizing pepper powder, flavoring used in instant noodles and garlic.

Within hours, alarm spread as people began hearing word that explosions occurred at the irradiation plant.

"There was chaos on the streets from about 2:30 p.m. until dark," said Zhu Zhihai, manager of a garlic-processing factory where all 30 employees rushed away. "All kinds of vehicles were going out of the county — farm vehicles, motorcycles and cars. People were in a hurry and they didn't take anything with them."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i13w0AeeYxsyQCwN3SHPhVSmoEZwD99I96V01

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Well, now pepper from China is on my list of foods to avoid....

[create.peace]

1. they were processing garlic!

by the way, tyson irradiates chicken similarly, i believe.

one more benefit of buying locally, unless you live in china!

[pinniped]

2. I'll be processing garlic at the Gilroy Garlic Festival next week.

http://gilroygarlicfestival.com/

[yorgatron]

3. Gilroy garlic is the best!

most of the garlic sold in this country now comes from China,and it's nowhere near as good.

[pinniped]

4. Yup. Forget that Chinese garlic.

Christopher Ranch garlic is king.

[izquierdista]

5. If it's from China

It's not fit for human consumption.