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Pipe burst cuts water supply to 100,000

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-04 00:20

CHONGQING -- About 100,000 residents in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing have no water after an underground pipe burst Tuesday morning, local authorities said.

It is the fifth time the major water pipe has cracked over the past 10 days, hitting supplies to the downtown Yuzhong District of Chongqing, said an official surnamed Song with the Chongqing Municipal Tap Water Co. Ltd..

The latest crack happened between 7 and 8 a.m. because of water pressure, when workers had completed repairing the last fissure and were sending water to the pipe, he said.

Fire-fighting and environment authorities have sent hundreds of water wagons to supply water to residents, he said.

"We will try our best to patch up the new crack tonight and resume water supplies tomorrow morning," he said.

The age of the pipeline was partly blamed for the bursts, which was put into use in 1965, he said.

"We are planning to renovate the old pipes to eradicated the problems," he added.