KHABAROVSK, Russia — A toxic spill from China reached Khabarovsk today, and the region's governor appealed for calm in the Far Eastern Russian city, where residents have crammed their apartments with bottles, pails, pans and even bathtubs full of fresh water.

The dreaded slick, which extends for 110 miles, entered the city limits five weeks after a chemical plant explosion in China's northeast spewed 100 tons of benzene, nitrobenzene and other toxins into the Songhua River. The Nov. 13 accident shut off running water to the city of Harbin's 3.8 million people for five days.

The Songhua becomes the Amur in Russia, and Natalya Zimina, a spokeswoman for the regional administration, said levels in the Amur were normal and water supplies to the city of 580,000 would be maintained.

The slick has been floating downstream and entered Russian territory last week. It could take four days or more to pass through Khabarovsk, but experts warn the ecological effects will last longer. Benzene and nitrobenzene are heavier than water and they are settling on the river bottom or sticking to the ice.