Officials in quake-ravaged Sichuan Province have managed to persuade a crowd of 10,000 people to leave after they heard a rumor that water sources in Chengdu were contaminated following Monday's quake.

The public security authority in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, said on Thursday that it had to divert precious resources and energy into countering two separate rumors. The first rumor claimed that "The Dujiangyan No. 1 Chemical plant exploded in the earthquake, discharging lethal gas." The other rumor claimed that "the tap water in Chengdu was contaminated."

Li Dongxiong, a local in Pixian County in the outskirt of Chengdu, was stunned to see a swarm of people marching into the town, when he was woken by the noise of the crowd early on Wednesday morning.

A man surnamed Liang from Dujiangyan City also said, "I heard people on the street saying the chemical plant exploded in the earthquake and began to leak poisonous gas. I immediately woke up my parents, my wife and daughter. We rushed to leave my house and walked along with the crowd."

The city's environmental protection authority soon found the gas leak to be a rumor. There was no explosion in the plant.

Officials in Chengdu on Wednesday also dismissed the rumor that water sources in the city were contaminated following Monday's quake, which had led to panic buying of bottled water.

Mao Zhixiong, secretary general of the Sichuan provincial government, delivered an explanation on TV.

Li Weidong, an official in the Pixian county government, said he received many reports from local townships asking for help.

"The county government reported it to the Chengdu emergency command center for help. Soon, hundreds of police officers, public administration staff and volunteers were mobilized to go into the crowd to tell them the truth and persuade them to leave," said Li.

The crowd was dispersed in a few hours, according to witnesses.

Before the official explanation, bottled water was sold out at many supermarkets and shops in Chengdu. Some citizens began to store water at home.

"We ran out of our stocks of mineral water Wednesday morning," said a manager in charge of the Haoyouduo Supermarket, where more than 4,000 shoppers stormed the store between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, clearing its stock of 3,000 boxes of beverage, including 700 boxes of mineral water.

A woman surnamed Li said she spent 200 yuan (28 U.S. dollars) buying drinks and milk in supermarkets.

"I could not find mineral water anywhere, when I went out at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday," she said.

Li said she found tap water pressure was low in her house, and heard rumors of a possible suspension of tap water, which led to her panic purchase.

The Chengdu Tap Water Co. said that the earthquake did not damage the city's tap water system.

"The system works normally and the tap water in Chengdu is on par with the national drinking water standard," it said.

The company attributed the lower tap water pressure in some buildings to the excessive use of tap water by hoarders.

"The turbidity of the tap water source from Xuyan River and Baitiao River was more than twice that before the earthquake, but the level is still within our treatment ability," said Yang Kai, head of the No. 6 Plant of the water company, which is responsible for treating 60 percent of the tap water supply in Chengdu.

Chinese leaders have said that those who spread rumors to sabotage disaster relief work would be dealt with by the courts.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2008)