from RT.com: Residents of Lanzhou, northwest China, have started panic-buying bottled water after city authorities confirmed the lethal chemical compound benzene was contaminating the city’s drinking water at 20 times the national safety level.

Lanzhou warned its 2.4 million residents not to consume any water from the tap on Friday after tests conducted at a local water plant showed that the liquid contained 200 micrograms of benzene per liter rather than 10 micrograms per liter – the nationally recommended limit.