A gas poisoning accident has sent 43 students to hospital Saturday morning when they were participating a birthday party at a night club in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

 

More than 20 students are receiving treatment, while the rest have been discharged from hospital, said Dai Yiqiang, an official with the city's public security department.

 

"Doctors said the patients are all out of danger, but they need time for recovery," said Dai.

 

The gas poisoning was caused by the malfunction of the fuel generator at the night club, said Dai.

 

All the victims are students from a transportation technology school of Urumqi and they gathered at the night club on Friday night to celebrate the birthday of one of the students.

 

However, some of the students began to feel dizzy at around 7 a.m. on Saturday and some even fainted later, said witnesses.

 

Investigation shows the night club began to use a fuel generator to maintain its electricity after a power cut on early Saturday morning. However, the malfunction of the generator has caused fuel deficient combustion and produces a large quantity of toxic carbon monoxide.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2007)