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 ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) - Authorities arrested and charged two executives of a Dutch commodities company whose dumped toxic waste has caused seven deaths and widespread sickness in the Ivory Coast's largest city, a government official said Monday.
The toxic waste, which U.N. experts say contains the potentially dangerous chemical hydrogen sulfide, was shipped to Abidjan last month by a vessel chartered by commodities trader Trafigura Beheer BV and dumped — apparently illegally — across the city. The Dutch company said it was dumped by a local contractor.
Hospitals have provided free treatment to 44,000 people in the past few weeks, many of them complaining of nausea, headaches, and breathing difficulties caused by the foul-smelling substance, the health ministry said.
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