Appeal for calm as toxic slick reaches Russia

A TOXIC spill from China reached Khabarovsk in Russia yesterday, and the region’s governor appealed for calm in the Far Eastern Russian city, where residents have crammed their apartments with bottles, pails, pans and even bathtubs full of fresh water.

The dreaded slick, which extends for 110 miles, entered the city limits five weeks after a chemical plant explosion in China's northeast spewed 100 tons of benzene, nitrobenzene and other toxins into the Songhua River. The November 13 accident shut off running water to the city of Harbin's 3.8 million people for five days.

The Songhua becomes the Amur river in Russia, and Natalya Zimina, a spokeswoman for the regional administration, said levels in the Amur were normal and water supplies to the city of 580,000 would be maintained.