Water back on but unsafe, say China officials

RUNNING water was restored in the Chinese city of Harbin yesterday after a chemical spill forced a five-day shutdown, but officials warned it was not immediately safe to drink.

The official Xinhua News Agency said tests showed a 50-mile spill of toxic benzene in the Songhua River had passed the city of 3.8 million people in north-eastern China.

State television showed the governor of Heilongjiang province, where Harbin is located, drinking a glass of boiled water drawn from a tap at a local family’s home.