33 injured by UV rays for SARS, bird flu at Hainan meeting hall
27/12/2005 8:29
Shanghai Daily news
Two ultraviolet lamps at a conference hall injured more than 30 people from
across the country in Haikou, Hainan Province. The victims were exposed to
the ultraviolet rays for about eight hours on Saturday in the triple-star
Jinjingwan Hotel, the Haikou Evening Newspaper reported yesterday. The 33
victims were attending a real estate training course. The two lamps had been
installed to prevent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and bird flu. A hotel
manager couldn't explain how they were switched on during the course. The
training course started at 8:30am on Saturday. By the end of the afternoon
session, the participants felt dry and burning skin and eye discomfort, said one
victim identified as Cao. The report said most attributed their symptoms to
Hainan's climate as it was their first visit to the tropical island. Most
female participants applied skin lotions repeatedly in an attempt to alleviate
the discomfort, only to increase the pain. By evening, many victims could
hardly open their inflamed, watery eyes. They also had runny noses. One of
the female victims, identified as Zhou, visited a hospital that night and was
told by an eye doctor that ultraviolet rays were to blame. The next day, Zhou
urged the hotel to turn off the lamps. The hotel sent all victims to
hospital.
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