WORLD : Toxic Chemical in Soviet River
A toxic chemical has leaked into a river in Byelorussia and Latvia, forcing the shut-off of drinking water to at least two cities and tainting the river for hundreds of miles, officials said today.
The leak apparently came from the national government’s Chemical and Petrochemical Ministry, which produces chemicals for military weapons.
City and republic leaders said officials never informed them of the leak into the Daugava River, which occurred sometime between Oct. 31 and Nov. 5.
“It is just the same as Chernobyl. We only learned that something went wrong when we saw fish floating belly up down the stream,” said Latvian Deputy Prime Minister Ilmar Bisher. He said two men suffered minor poisoning after eating fish.
Drinking water from the river to the Latvian capital, Riga, a city of nearly 1 million people, was turned off Thursday morning.
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