Changsha (China), Aug 3 (Xinhua) More than 500 villagers have been found with very high levels of a toxic metal in their bodies following a series of leaks at a chemical plant in central China, officials said Monday.

A total of 509 people fell sick after they were exposed to cadmium, a toxic metal pollutant, discharged by the Changsha Xianghe Chemical Plant in China's central Hunan province, Zhou Mengde, an official investigating the incident, said.

Zhou said the government has offered free health checkups to 2,888 people living within a radius of 1,200 meters from the plant.

Medical tests of the affected people showed they had excessive levels of cadmium in their bodies.