China considers dam to shield Russian city from toxic spill

China is considering building a dam to reduce the impact of a river-borne toxic spill expected to arrive in a Russian city early next week, a government newspaper said today.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong media reported the apparent suicide of an official in the upstream city of Jilin, where a November 13 chemical plant explosion caused the spill. Vice Mayor Wang Wei was found hanged, the Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported.