Chinese state media say tens of thousands of people are trapped by flood waters in northeastern China, and that efforts are underway to rescue them.
The Xinhua news agency said 30,000 people are trapped in the town of Kouqian in Jilin province, including some passengers and workers at the town's train station. The flooding occurred when torrential rains caused the Xingshan Reservoir and the Wende and Songhua rivers to overflow Wednesday.
More than 200 rescue workers have been sent to the area.
Local authorities say the flooding has washed more than 1,000 barrels of explosive chemicals into the Songhua River. The containers, holding chemical gas, were swept into the river near Jilin city.
Xinhua said officials are monitoring the chemical levels of the water and working to recover the barrels.
Flooding in China this year has killed close to 900 people and left over 400 missing. The flooding is the worst in over a decade and has caused billions of dollars in damage.
Meteorologists are predicting that heavy rain will continue to dump on China's drenched eastern and southern regions in the coming days.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
