Water quality and fish have been declared free from contamination in the provinces of Hubei and Henan, both located along the lower reaches of the Wuguan River, near the leakage site.

Authorities confirmed the actual amount leaked was just over 5 tons - the figure which had initially been reported - and not the 10 tons quoted last week.

The chemical was spilled on September 29 in Tieyupu, a small town in Danfeng County, when a container truck carrying liquid sodium cyanide careered off a road into the Wuguan River.

Experts say just a few grams of the substance are enough to kill a human.

The Wuguan River is a branch of the Hanjiang River, which joins the Yangtze River at Wuhan in Hubei Province.

Dead fish were found down river from the accident site following the incident which caused panic among local residents. Most of them decided not to eat fish and the price of pork and beef shot up dramatically.

However, no human casualties have been reported from the spillage, thanks to emergency measures taken by the authorities.

To stop the chemical from spreading, local officials constructed two embankments along the river below and above the accident site.

SEPA also sent a team of anti-pollution experts to the area who had to drive more than 1,000 km to the site which is not accessible by air.

Chemical specialists from the army neutralized the toxic spillage in the river, according to officials.

(China Daily 10/13/2000)