Society

Chemical buckets washed into major river in NE China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-28 19:35

Buckets containing explosive chemicals float on the surface of the Songhuajiang River in Yongji County of Jilin City, Northeast China's Jilin province, July 28, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

CHANGCHUN - More than 1,000 containers containing explosive chemicals were washed into a major river in northeast China's Jilin Province Wednesday, said local authorities.

The accident occurred around 10 am in Yongji County, in Jilin City, after rain-triggered flood waters swept the containers into the Songhuajiang River, said the publicity department of Jilin City Committee of the Communist Party of China.

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The containers from a local chemical plant contained more than 160,000 kg of explosive chemical fluids, said the department.

A Xinhua reporter saw dozens of containers floating on the river.

Emergency workers have been trying to recover the containers and local environmental protection authorities were closely monitoring the water quality of the river.