• A dog sleeps in front of Wen Jin’e and Xiong Demin’s home at Heshan village, in Shimen county. Wen suffers from cervical cancer and Xiong from lung cancer. Jason Lee / Reuters
    A dog sleeps in front of Wen Jin’e and Xiong Demin’s home at Heshan village, in Shimen county. Wen suffers from cervical cancer and Xiong from lung cancer. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Gong Zhaoyuan, 69, shows a medical certificate from Shimen People’s Hospital which confirms he developed skin cancer as a result of arsenic poisoning, in Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Gong Zhaoyuan, 69, shows a medical certificate from Shimen People’s Hospital which confirms he developed skin cancer as a result of arsenic poisoning, in Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • A sealed mine entrance is seen at a closed realgar mining plant at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    A sealed mine entrance is seen at a closed realgar mining plant at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Qin Wenji, 82, who suffers from skin cancer, watches TV in his bedroom at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Qin Wenji, 82, who suffers from skin cancer, watches TV in his bedroom at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Qin Zhengyu, 78, who suffers from skin cancer, shows tumours on her fingers, at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Qin Zhengyu, 78, who suffers from skin cancer, shows tumours on her fingers, at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • A portrait of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong is seen at Gong Zhaoyuan’s home at Heshan village, in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
    A portrait of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong is seen at Gong Zhaoyuan’s home at Heshan village, in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Sixty-one-year-old villager Xiong Dejun walks towards a bus station, on his way to get an X-ray examination for his lungs at a hospital in Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Sixty-one-year-old villager Xiong Dejun walks towards a bus station, on his way to get an X-ray examination for his lungs at a hospital in Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Damaged cowpea seedlings grow in a field at Heshan village, in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Damaged cowpea seedlings grow in a field at Heshan village, in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Wu Qiongyao shows the skin ointments which her husband uses for his ulcers at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Wu Qiongyao shows the skin ointments which her husband uses for his ulcers at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Two disused tanks are seen at a closed realgar mining plant at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Two disused tanks are seen at a closed realgar mining plant at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • A scarecrow stands in a field at Heshan village in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
    A scarecrow stands in a field at Heshan village in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • Gong Zhaoyuan, 69, who was diagnosed with skin cancer, reacts as he rests at his home in Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    Gong Zhaoyuan, 69, who was diagnosed with skin cancer, reacts as he rests at his home in Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • A woman walks past a tomb at Heshan village in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
    A woman walks past a tomb at Heshan village in Shimen county. Jason Lee / Reuters
  • The damaged walls of a cistern are seen at a closed realgar mining plant at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters
    The damaged walls of a cistern are seen at a closed realgar mining plant at Heshan village. Jason Lee / Reuters

Business

In pictures: A poisonous legacy for China villagers

Liz Claus

June 28, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

From the 1950s, mines and chemical plants mushroomed in the area around Heshan, Shimen county, in central China’s Hunan Province, but were shut down in 2011 due to pollution which villagers say has caused cancer-related deaths.

TechnologyChinaEconomyPollution