25 November 2005 China's toxic spill threatens Russia
The toxic spill in China's Songhua River resulting from a blast 11 days ago at a plant at Jiln is continuing to have far-reaching ramifications.
A state of emergency has been called in the city of Khabarovsk in Russia's far east as the spill is heading towards the city up the Amur River.
The main supply of water - taken from the Amur - will be cut off for several days and both Chinese and Russian experts are now monitoring the spill of benzene as authorities fear that 1.5 million people in and around the city will be affected by the pollution.
"We expect the spill to arrive in Russia on November 26th and in Khabarovsk on November 30th - December 1st," Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Russian environmental monitoring agency Rosprirodnadzor, told the BBC.
In China the toxic water has reached the north-eastern city of Harbin, where authorities shut down water supplies to its 3.8 million residents two days ago. Around 15 hospitals have been put on standby, some schools and businesses have been closed and flights out of the city have sold out.
According to reports, the levels of benzene in the water are more than 30 times higher than is considered safe.
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