New Delhi, March 20 -- Zambian officials and environmental groups are confronting the devastating fallout of an acid leak at a Chinese-operated mine, which has polluted a vital river and could impact millions of people. Signs of contamination have been detected over 100 kilometres downstream, raising alarms about a potential large-scale environmental disaster.

The incident occurred on February 18 when a dam storing acidic waste from a copper mine in northern Zambia collapsed.

Investigators from the Engineering Institution of Zambia estimate that around 50 million litres of waste, containing strong acid, dissolved solids, and heavy metals, flowed into a tributary linked to the Kafue River, Zambia's most important waterway.

"This is an e...