Beijing: China`s military personnel have recovered 2,978 of the 7000 barrels, many of them containing explosive chemicals, which were washed away by floods in the Songhua River in northeast part of the country.
About 4,000 others were still to be recovered, said officials of the Jilin Provincial Government, official media reported today. A water test conducted last morning showed the river water was not contaminated by the explosives.
Eight stations had been set up for the retrieval work, and the focus would be Yushu, Fuyu and Songyuan area, where the Songhua River enters Heilongjiang Province.
Hundreds of security personnel have been deployed at several points to collect the floating barrels. State run CCTV said officials have denied rumours that one of the barrels was exploded.
The plan was recover all of the barrels within the territory of Jilin Province, officials said.
The Songhua River also flows into Russia.
Some 3,000 full barrels, filled with 170 kilograms of chemical liquid each, and 4,000 empty ones were swept into the waterway after floods hit warehouses of two chemical factories in Jilin City, Jilin Province, Wednesday morning, Xinhua reported.
PTI
