Blasting starts to clear reefs on Yangtze River

Chinese engineers on Monday began a 112-day series of controlled explosions to clear a series of reefs that have hampered shipping on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The operation near Anqing City in Anhui Province, east China, will clear the 26-km Taiziji section of the river, where reefs measure 250 meters by 120 meters extend.