A MAN WAS killed and seven others injured in China after receiving parcels from a delivery company that were contaminated with toxic chemicals, it was reported Saturday.
The unnamed man, from China’s eastern Shandong province, died after taking delivery of a box of shoes in late November which were tainted with methyl fluoroacetate, a highly toxic chemical, the Xinhua news agency reported citing the local post bureau.
The bureau said four parcels delivered by Shanghai YTO Express, a private delivery company, were found to be contaminated by the chemicals, making five delivery workers and two recipients sick. The report did not state the condition of the injured.
Xinhua said YTO had apologised for the accident and quoted a spokesman saying that the contamination occurred after a package containing the toxic chemical leaked during transport.
The company said the package was sent by a chemical plant in central China’s Hubei province who claimed it was “innoxious”.
The spokesman was quoted as saying the delivery company staff had performed routine checks “according to company rules” and that it would cooperate with an ongoing police investigation.
Xinhua said the country’s private delivery network was “one of China’s fastest growing industries” but added experts said the sector was beset with problems like “poor service and lax supervision”.
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