Over 3,000 barrels filled with chemicals have been found in a river in China's Jilin province, authorities said Thursday.

Of the 7,000 barrels found, around 3,000 were found filled with chemicals - 2,500 barrels contain trimethyl chloro silicane, a colourless inflammable liquid with a pungent odour while around 500 contain hexamethyl disilazane, another pungent colourless liquid, Xinhua reported.

Each barrel contains about 170 kg of chemicals.

Around 4,000 barrels in the Songhuajiang river were found to be empty, officials said.

On Wednesday, authorities had found around 1,000 barrels in the river.

The authorities said the barrels may have entered the river after floods hit the storage facilities of two chemical factories in the vicinity.