FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Thirteen people were hospitalized complaining of feeling unwell after toxic gas leaked from a factory in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, on Saturday, police said.

Phosgene gas used to make chemicals and pharmaceuticals leaked from the plant at Showa Denko K.K.’s Higashi-Nagahara site at about 6 a.m., reportedly causing minor injuries to 12 employees and a 67-year-old local resident.

According to Aizu-wakamatsu Police Station, nine workers and the woman were taken by ambulance to a hospital. The other three made their own way to the hospital.

The Aizu-Wakamatsu Fire Department believes an employee mishandled a pipe valve and was investigating the matter.

The company said an alarm on a gas density meter rang to warn of the leak at about 7 a.m. Saturday.

Toxic gas was not detected outside of the site, but as a precaution the municipal government, police and other authorities requested that residents of about 50 nearby households evacuate, according the police and other sources,

The woman who was affected reportedly had come into contact with an employee.

The firm uses phosgene as a material to make agricultural chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It is highly toxic and is thought to cause respiratory and other problems.

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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-08-09-08 1502EDT

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