Boys file Japanese mustard gas suit

Two Chinese boys claiming to have suffered serious after effects from exposure to an abandoned Japanese chemical weapon filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government yesterday in a Tokyo court.

Zhou Tong, 16, and Liu Haoyin, 12, were exposed in 2004 to toxic mustard gas that leaked from the abandoned weapon as they were playing near their home in Jilin province, northeastern China.

The two boys were treated in hospital for painful blisters on their hands and feet. Aftereffects of the exposure seriously impaired their immune systems and left them with chronic respiratory disease.