A small group of residents protested today outside the Chinese consulate in the Russian Far East town of Khabarovsk, pleading during a meeting with Beijing’s top diplomat there for more information about a toxic spill set to flow into the Amur River.

Beijing tried to ease strains with Moscow over a river-borne toxic spill flowing toward Russia by today promising to send filtering materials, while five more Chinese cities prepared to stop drawing water from the river.

Residents of a town along a poisoned river in northern China today queued with jugs and buckets to get water from trucks after officials shut down running water to 26,000 people.

China’s top health official today said the pollution of the Songhua River by a chemical spill was a big problem which has highlighted the country’s need to have contingency plans for emergencies.

A SLICK of river-borne toxins from a chemical plant explosion flowed into a major Chinese city yesterday as the authorities faced increasing criticism of their handling of the situation.

A freight train collided with a passenger bus in the Russian Far East today, killing seven people and injuring 18, emergency officials said.