SULPHURIC acid has accidentally spilled into the municipal water reservoir of Kitwe, Zambia’s second largest city in the northern Copperbelt mining region, a municipal official said on Wednesday. The spillage occurred after a train transporting the chemical derailed. Municipal authorities in Kitwe, 400 kilometres north of Lusaka, have shut down the water supplies to the residents of the town. Town clerk Ali Simwinga said they found out about the spill after “a lot” of fish in the nearby Mindolo river were found dead. He said people had rushed to the river to pick up dead fish floating on the surface after they were killed by the acid, and added that sales of fresh fish had been banned. The population of Kitwe stood at 338 200 inhabitants in 1990. – AFP