NAIROBI, Nov. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The Chinese government on Saturday informed the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) about the environmental disaster in northeast China caused by a toxic spill, pledging to provide update on the incident to the international community on a daily basis.

    Zhang Shigang, China's deputy permanent representative to UNEP, met with the UN agency's Deputy Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel on Saturday afternoon and gave him a thorough briefing on the disaster.

    "Today's briefing is just the first step by the Chinese government in its efforts to keep the international community informed about the environmental disaster. In the coming days, the Chinese government, through its permanent representative office at the UNEP, will provide updated information about the development of the issue on a daily basis," Zhang said.

    The disaster was caused by a chemical plant explosion in Jilin province, northeast China, on Nov. 13, which heavily polluted a regional river called the Songhua River, Zhang said, adding that the major pollutants from the accident had been identified as benzene, aniline and nitrobenzene.

    "The Chinese government has been taking the incident very seriously. The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), together with other central competent departments, has sent a team of experts and high officials to the site to coordinate the relief efforts and ensure the damages reduced to the minimum," Zhang said.

    According to the latest information released by SEPA on Saturday, the belt of toxic pollutants flowing downstream in the Songhua river is off the city of Harbin about 80 km. A total of 13 monitoring sites have been established along the river and three monitoring vehicles have been doing real time examination. Enditem