Several hundred villagers in northwest China's Shaanxi Province broke into a smelting plant on Monday to protest the lead poisoning of more than 600 children.

An unconfirmed report Monday said a teenage student in Changqing Township in Fengxiang County in Baoji had attempted to commit suicide by drinking pesticide Sunday night after her blood test indicated an excessively high blood lead level.

The news, however, has not been confirmed by authorities.

Villagers Monday morning dismantled 300-meters of fencing around a railway reserved for the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in Changqing Township in Fengxiang County in Baoji Monday morning, and smashed trucks and other vehicles at the plant.

Villagers said Ma Jiaojiao, from Madaokou Village situated near the plant, was diagnosed as having a lead level of 400 mg per liter of blood, compared with zero to 100 mg a liter.

Ma, a second grader at a local senior high school, reportedly paid for a blood test herself, as government-funded tests cover only children under 14.

Xinhua failed to find Ma's parents and no one was at her home Monday morning.

The neighbors said Ma had been sent to a hospital in Baoji City. Her condition was not immediately known.

The plant's operations were suspended on August 6.

At least 10 trucks that have carried coal to the plant were damaged. Some of them were from Henan Province and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

At 11:30 AM, about 100 policemen had been mobilized to maintain order.

Baoji Mayor Dai Zhengshe arrived at the site just after midday and called on the villagers to exercise restraint. He has been appointed as head of a newly-established pollution control team and said he was willing to settle the villagers' relocation and medical issues through dialogue.

At least 615 children, of a total 731 under the age of 14 living in two villages near the plant showed excessive amounts of blood lead after medical tests. Of 166 serious cases, 154 had been hospitalized by Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2009)