A tenth person has died from ailments linked to use of a tainted drug made by a pharmaceutical company in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, hospital sources said on Saturday.

A patient receives treatment in a local hospital in Guangzhou, capital city of south's China Guangdong province May 15, 2006. The patient shows symptoms of acute renal failure and has been found to have taken a fake injection produced by a chemical works in Qiqihar,  northeast China's Heilongjiang Provinc. The concerfeit medicine have led to four deaths. [Xinhua]

The victim died on Friday in the No. 3 Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, capital city of southern China's Guangdong Province, after medical treatment failed.

The patient, 60, surnamed Chen, had been hospitalized since March 29 for hepatitis.

After receiving an injection of the toxic Armillarisni A from the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, he developed fever, vomiting and anorexia.

He died of heart, kidney and liver failure, said Gao Zhiliang, director of infection department with the hospital.

Another patient who developed side effects of the medicine is in critical condition and three other patients are in stable condition, doctors said.

The drug contained a toxic substance, identified as diethylene glycol, an industrial ingredient.

One ton of the chemical was sold to the factory last November as "propylene glycol," an auxiliary material for producing Armillarisni A. The company's quality inspectors failed to discover the problem.

The plant was shut down and the sale of all its drugs has been banned.

The drug was targeted for treatment of acute or chronic cholecystitis and chronic and atrophic gastritis.