A state news agency says a chemical leak in northeast China has killed at least three people, according to AP. Few details were available about the leak Thursday in Qiqihaer city of Heilongjiang province. Xinhua News Agency said Friday that an investigation was under way. Qiqihaer is located only 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the Russian border. The city lies along the Nin River, a major tributary of the Songhua River, which flows into Russia. A 2005 chemical spill in the Songhua strained China-Russia relations after poisoned waters flowed across the border. The spill included potentially cancer-causing chemicals and forced the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin to sever water supplies to 3.8 million people for five days.
