Dozens of sealed containers filled with toxic waste were headed for France yesterday, two months after they were dumped across Ivory Coast's main city in a scandal authorities claim killed 10 people.
Packed into rows of cylindrical containers, the waste left Abidjan's port just before midnight on Friday aboard the MN Toucan, a vessel belonging to the French shipping company, Maritime Nantaise. The ship's captain, Franck Ouvray, said it would take about 10 days to transport the first of four loads of the waste to Le Havre, France.
Tredi International, the French company contracted by the Ivorian government to clean up the waste from 17 sites around Abijdan, has removed about 5,000 tonness of toxins and dirt since Sept. 17.
Tredi spokesman Henri Petitgand said clean-up crews had not finished and were still working at two sites. He said once the containers get to France, it will take about two weeks to neutralize their toxic contents.
The waste was offloaded in Abidjan on Aug. 19 from the Probo Koala, a vessel chartered by the Dutch commodities trading company, Trafigura Beheer BV.
Trafigura officials say the ship was carrying a cargo of gasoline and stopped in Abidjan to dispose of the content of the ship's waste tanks, known as "slops."
Trafigura says the waste disposed of in Abidjan was a mix of gasoline residues, water and caustic sodas used to clean slops.
UN experts say the waste that was dumped in Abidjan contained hydrogen sulfide, which in concentrated doses can kill humans. Trafigura officials say it is a mystery how the hydrogen sulfide got there, as caustic sodas typically used to clean slops cannot produce the toxic substance, according to Trafigura.
Ivory Coast's Health Ministry says 10 people have died in areas where the waste was dumped. The ministry says more than 60 people have also been hospitalized and more than 100,000 have sought medical treatment.
As the waste moved out on Friday, the strong scent of rotting garlic was still detectable. Residents have come to associate the smell with the lethal fumes that led to diarrhea, headaches, breathing problems and small spots on their skin immediately after the waste was jettisoned.
Safiatou Ba N'daw, who heads a special Ivorian government committee set up to deal with the crisis, said the fact the toxic waste was being shipped out of Ivory Coast didn't mean the crisis was over.
"I would not say this is the end," she said. "We must not forget that we are still cleaning the ground, and we still have to clean the lagoon and the sewage system."
Authorities here have jailed seven people, including four Ivorian officials. All have been charged with breaking local toxic waste disposal laws.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
RSS