Town shuts down water as toxic slick arrives

ANOTHER town on a poisoned Chinese river shut down its water system yesterday as a toxic slick caused by a chemical plant explosion arrived and the country’s health minister warned that the spill was still a major problem.

Running water to about 26,000 people in Dalianhe, on the Songhua River in China’s north-east, was cut off yesterday.

The slick arrived a day after Harbin, a major city upstream, declared its tap water safe to drink again. Its 3.8 million people had endured five days without running water as the slick of benzene and other toxic chemicals passed.