MOSCOW, December 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's emergency situations minister left the capital early Thursday bound for the country's Far East, where he will check measures being taken to avert an environmental disaster as a toxic slick from China approaches the region's biggest river, a spokesman said.
Sergei Shoigu will fly into Khabarovsk, a city on the Amur River with a population of 600,000, where he will also consult with Chinese colleagues on measures to be taken.
"The minister will arrive in Khabarvosk on the president's instructions, where he will check the level of readiness of the regional system of warning and emergency situation response to counter the possible chemical pollution of the Amur River," the spokesman said.
About 100 metric tons of chemicals, including potentially lethal benzene, spilled into the Songhua River, a tributary of the Amur, after an accident at a petrochemical plant in northeastern China November 13. The contaminated water is heading toward the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Area in the Russian Far East.
