YONGJI, Jilin - Heavy troops were dispatched on Friday to recover 3,000 barrels of hazardous chemicals washed into a major river in Northeast China by floods.

Over 1,400 soldiers, police and traffic police joined in the operation, with more than 300 residents from 12 nearby villages volunteering to help carry the barrels, said an officer who was on the spot.

Local environmental protection authorities monitoring the water quality of the Songhua River have so far detected no contamination, according to sources in the local information office.