Chemical leak pollutes water for 1 million Chinese

[dArKeR]

Beijing — Nearly 1 million people in southwestern China were without water for drinking and bathing Friday after chemicals polluted a southwestern river, state media and a government official said.


Authorities shut down water supplies Tuesday after a combination of synthetic ammonia and nitrogen from the Sichuan General Chemical Factory leaked into the Tuo River in the densely populated province of Sichuan, the Chinese-language Shanghai Morning Post reported. Water supplies for four residential areas were severely polluted and could remain cut for several days, the paper said.


The Tuo feeds into China's main shipping artery, the Yangtze River.


An official from Sichuan's provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, reached by telephone, confirmed the report but refused to give his name.

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