China investigates death of toxic spill official

Authorities were today investigating the death of a Chinese deputy mayor who had told reporters there was no pollution from a chemical plant blast that poisoned a river.

At the same time the government tried to mollify anger at the disaster by vowing to severely punish anyone responsible.

Vice Mayor Wang Wei of Jilin, where the explosion occurred, was found dead at home yesterday, the Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao and Hong Kong Cable TV reported.

They said 43-year-old Wang’s cause of death was unknown.

“The exact reasons are unclear. The investigation has not reached a conclusion,” a spokeswoman for the government of Jilin province, where Jilin is located, told Hong Kong Cable TV.

People who live along the Songhua River in China’s north-east were angry that authorities failed to alert them immediately to the spill of 100 tons of benzene and other toxins.

It disrupted water supplies to millions and strained ties with neighbouring Russia.