Around China

Hubei

Industrial salt not intended for pot

Police looking for a Wuhan resident who may have mistaken half a bag of industrial salt for the edible variety were relieved when it turned out to be a false alarm. They received a report from an urban management team on Jan 1 that the industrial salt - used to help melt snow on the street - had been taken from the roadside by a man. Because industrial salt is inedible, police officers were dispatched to the scene to launch an investigation. After hours of investigation and viewing surveillance video footage, they found the man who had taken the bag of salt. He told them he had wanted to use it to help melt snow at his home, and had not used it for cooking.