The deadline for victims of Minamata disease to apply for official redress under a special law expired Tuesday despite a petition by more than 100,000 people to extend the deadline.

The government stopped accepting applications in Niigata, Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures from uncertified patients of the neurological illness, which is caused by mercury-tainted water released into the sea and rivers.

The disease, officially recognized in May 1956, was caused by mercury-laced wastewater discharged by a plant of chemical maker Chisso Corp. in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture. It has affected coastal residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. A similar disease was later confirmed in Niigata Prefecture, caused by wastewater from a Showa Denko K.K. plant.