A Chinese river was so polluted that it ended up catching fire and needed to be extinguished by fireman in the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province in eastern China.nnAccording to locals the river has been heavily polluted years thanks to oils and other chemicals released by several shoemaking factories and packaging firms further upstream. But they complain that the councils environmental protection office had never done anything against the polluters because they were too important to the local economy.nnLocal woman Peng Tu, 38, said: "it was hardly a surprise that the river was flammable, the smell has been unbearable for years but no one has taken any notice. Perhaps now they might do some think."nnThe blaze in which the river caught fire apparently happened after somebody threw a lighted cigarette into the water, according to fireman.nnThe flames which went up to 5 m into the air the high enough to set fire to a wooden railing around the river and also destroyed several cars that had been part next to the pavement that ran alongside the river.nnFireman had to use special foam fire extinguishers to extinguish the blaze. Police are now investigating where the chemicals might have come from.
The River Ou burst into flames (Picture: Europics)

An urban river was so polluted that it burst into flames when a passer-by dropped a lit cigarette into it.

This incredible picture shows the extent of the blaze on the River Ou, which locals blamed on years of pollution being spewed from factories in Wenzhou city.

Resident Peng Tu said: ‘It was hardly a surprise that the river was flammable – the smell has been unbearable for years but no one has taken any notice. Perhaps now they might do something.’

Fire crews eventually tackled the blaze.

A Chinese river was so polluted that it ended up catching fire and needed to be extinguished by fireman in the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province in eastern China.nnAccording to locals the river has been heavily polluted years thanks to oils and other chemicals released by several shoemaking factories and packaging firms further upstream. But they complain that the councils environmental protection office had never done anything against the polluters because they were too important to the local economy.nnLocal woman Peng Tu, 38, said: "it was hardly a surprise that the river was flammable, the smell has been unbearable for years but no one has taken any notice. Perhaps now they might do some think."nnThe blaze in which the river caught fire apparently happened after somebody threw a lighted cigarette into the water, according to fireman.nnThe flames which went up to 5 m into the air the high enough to set fire to a wooden railing around the river and also destroyed several cars that had been part next to the pavement that ran alongside the river.nnFireman had to use special foam fire extinguishers to extinguish the blaze. Police are now investigating where the chemicals might have come from.
Fire crews eventually tackled the blaze (Picture: Europics)