The river pollution caused by a chemical plant blast in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has been cleared up without signs of diffusion, according to local environmental authorities on Thursday.

Downstream water quality has met national standards and the ban on collecting river water has been lifted, according to Chongqing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

"Local villagers are now allowed to fetch and use water from the river," a bureau official was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency today.

The pollution was caused by a blast at a chemical plant in Dianjiang County on November 24, and warnings of benzene contamination were placed along the banks of the Guixi River in Xinmin Township. The explosion killed one person and injured four others.

Yesterday morning, there was another blast at a chemical plant in Jiangdu in east China's Jiangsu Province when a tank containing eight tons of acrylonitrile exploded.

No death or injuries were reported and an investigation into the cause of the incident is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily December 2, 2005)