Jilin City, China: Floods Wash Explosive Chemicals into River

On to China. Flooding in the country's northeast has washed thousands of barrels containing explosive chemicals into a major river. Here's more.

Water supplies were cut to parts of the Jilin City on Thursday. State-run media reports that floodwaters washed 7,000 barrels of a dangerous chemical into the Songhua River from a nearby factory.

It's unclear how well the barrels were sealed. State-run media estimates as much as 500 tons of chemicals could still potentially contaminate the river.

However some pollutants produced by the plant were detected in the river and a strange odor spread through downtown Jilin as metal containers floated in the river.

The city suffered a major chemical spill in November 2005, when an explosion at a petrochemical plant released tons of hazardous chemicals into the river.

People were rushing to buy water at area stores.

In other parts of Jilin Province, 13 people were killed and six others left missing after floods swept through Yongji County, stranding 30,000 residents.

[Local Resident]:
"The water level has risen up to the first floor of our building."

[Local Resident]:
"The water level has risen up to the third floor of one of our local hospitals."

In Changchun City, local residents were evacuated to another part of the city, where waist-deep flood water level had trapped nearly 3,000 people in their homes.

Rains across central and southern China have killed more than 900 people and left over 400 missing so far this year, causing around 26 billion U.S. dollars in damage.

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