BEIJING, June 22 (Reuters) - China shut down a chemical plant after it discharged toxic chemicals into a river, causing several dozen villagers to seek medical treatment for skin inflammation, state media reported on Friday.

Workers from Boda Chemical Co., a private company based in Qimen County in the eastern province of Anhui, had "mistakenly" discharged chemicals into the Jindong river, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"An oil spill and dead fish appeared in a section of the Jindong River on Tuesday morning," the agency said, citing the local government in Huangshan, a tourist attraction for its Yellow Mountain.

"Hours later, local residents who had washed their clothes in the river or collected the dead fish began to feel an itchy, burning sensation on their skin," it said.

Test results from the provincial environmental protection agency showed the river had been contaminated by dimethylamine, or DMA, a chemical used in rocket fuel and pesticides.

Nine of the 61 people who sought medical treatment had been taken to hospital, and two remained in hospital with serious skin inflammation, it added.

The plant was shut down on Thursday after an investigation.

The county government warned residents to stay away from the river, and the food and safety watchdog sent a team to tour markets and restaurants, preventing residents from eating the contaminated fish, it added.

China has experienced a series of environmental disasters as industries expand to feed the country's booming economy, often with little oversight or regulation.

An explosion at a chemical plant in northwest China in 2005 spewed cancer-causing benzene compounds into the Songhua River, creating a toxic slick that poisoned the source of drinking water for millions of people in Harbin and elsewhere along the river.

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