
JILIN, China, July 29 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities said Thursday that floods swept around 3,000 barrels filled with hazardous chemicals into major rivers in the northeast.
China has been hit with some of the heaviest rainfall on record this week, trapping around 30,000 people in Jilin province. The flood waters, authorities say, are pushing the Three Gorges Dam's limits.
Water levels in the Three Gorges Dam reservoir were 55 feet below maximum capacity of 575 feet Wednesday.
Authorities said about 3,000 barrels filled with chemicals were swept into the Songhuajiang River in the province after floods hit chemical factories in the area.
Around 2,500 of the barrels contain the flammable liquid trimethyl chloro silicane, while the rest carry the pungent hexamethyl disilazane, the official Xinhua news agency reports.
Each barrel contains about 75 pounds of chemicals.
Authorities first reported seeing around 1,000 barrels in area waterways Wednesday.
Emergency workers and Chinese soldiers were scrambling to the river to recover the chemical barrels. Xinhua reported that around 400 were recovered by Thursday.
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