A 110-kilometer-long stretch of the Songhua River, polluted by the November 13 explosion of a upper reach chemical plant in Jilin Province, has passed the baid River point in Mulan county Thursday morning.

According to a State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) statement, the section reached the Baidu River at midnight Thursday. The nitrobenzene pollution had a density of 0.379 mg/L, 21.29 times above the safe level.

The chemical slick passed through Baidu Thursday morning, said the SEPA.

Mulan is the first of the five urban centers the polluted belt will flow through in the coming days.

The leading edge of the chemical slick has reached the town of Tonghe while its tail remains in Bayangang Town. The polluted stretch of the river is now more than 110 kms long.

SEPA also said on Wednesday nitrobenzene has not been detected where the Dalian River flows into the Songhua River which is 55 km downstream from Tonghe.

Source: Xinhua