Air and drinking water quality have returned to normal standard by Saturday morning after explosions following a chlorine leak in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, according to the municipal environmental protection bureau.

The municipal environment monitoring center has set up 11 air quality stations in the major downtown districts, five of which are around the chemical plant. By 5 a.m. Saturday, the chlorine quantity in the air monitored by the center had been back to normal, said Wang Lijun, deputy director of the bureau.

Firemen had been spraying sodium hydroxide liquid at the site since the explosion happened on Thursday to neutralize the chlorine gas, said the firemen director Wang Qinlin.

Little chlorine in the air was smelled without mask around the plant from Friday night to Saturday.

Meanwhile, the bureau also monitored two sections of Jialing River which runs through the city and said the water was not polluted.

All the water piped from the river are unpolluted and can be used as drinking water, said the municipal water group.

The powerful explosions occurred about 17:57 Friday at Tianyuan Chemical Industry Plant located in the city's Jiangbei District, releasing high-concentration of highly irritating, greenish-yellow chlorine gas. Nine people have been confirmed dead or missing and three were badly injured.

More than 150,000 residents have been moved out of areas within three kilometers surrounding the plant.
 
(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2004)