Floodwaters in northeastern China have washed more than 1,000 barrels of explosive chemicals into a major river, the Songhua, state media reported on Wednesday.
The incident along the flood-swollen Songhua River, a tributary of the Amur River in Russia, occurred around 10 a.m. local time, the official Xinhua news agency said.
According to preliminary information, the containers carried away from a local chemical plant in Jilin Province held more than 160 metric tons of methyl chloride, an extremely explosive chemical gas.
Emergency workers are currently trying to remove the barrels and local environmental protection authorities are monitoring water quality.
Chinese government officials have not confirmed the incident.
In November 2005, an explosion at a plant owned by the Jilin Petroleum and Chemical Company caused 100 tons of potentially lethal benzene to spill into the Songhua River. The incident forced the shut-down of water supplies to nearly 4 million people. The spillage caused substantial environmental damage in Russia's Far East, as a huge slick of chemicals was carried down the Amur.
MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti)
