Explosion forces Chinese city to shut off water supply

A CHINESE city of 3.8 million people closed schools and was trucking in drinking water yesterday after shutting down its water system following a chemical plant explosion that officials said polluted a river with toxic benzene.

The announcement of the shutdown in Harbin in China's north-east set off panicked buying this week of bottled water, milk and soft drinks that left supermarket shelves bare.

The water system was shut down at midnight on Tuesday and probably will stay out of service for four days, said an official of its Municipal Water Supply Group. He would give only his surname, Chen.