A series of pictures of the plight of villagers living in the 'Cancer Villages' of Zekou Town, Qianjiang City of Hubei Province, China. While the heavy smog in Beijing and much of northern China in have caused alarm among residents and renewed scrutiny on the pollution woes of the country, villagers in a small town of Hubei Province have been grappling with severe air, water and noise pollution on a daily basis over the past two years. China's Xinhua news reported 04 January 2013 that more than 60 cancer deaths in various villages of Zekou Town has been caused by the heavy pollution from the chemical industry park nearby. About 20 or more chemical plants built around the villages of Dongtan, Xiangnan, Zhoutan, Sunguai, Qingnian and others over the past two years has created huge increases in noise, air and water pollution. Many villagers complained of intensifying respiratory, heart, skin and circulatory illnesses caused by the pollution and a large spike in cancer diagnoses and deaths since the factories were built.
