A statue of Chairman Mao Zedong is seen during a hazy day in the Chinese city of Shenyang, Liaoning province, on May 7, 2013
Officials in eastern China’s Leqing City were forced to temporarily shutter a primary school in Beibaixiang township after 20 students at the facility suffered from spontaneous nosebleeds that were likely caused by air pollution.
According to a report in the Global Times, there are more than 30 factories and industrial workshops located within 1 km from the school. Investigators admitted that exhaust-emission levels at 28 of the plants had not been inspected by officials.
Students were reportedly relocated to another facility on Monday as officials monitored the air quality near the school. According to an article published in the New York Times earlier this year, air pollution caused an estimated 1.2 million premature deaths in China in 2010.