At least 12 people died and thousands fell sick in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo after toxic waste from a diamond mine polluted the Kasai river according to the DRC’s environment minister.
Residents began noticing the river’s pollution in July when the waters turned red and dead fish were washing up. Officials from Kasai also reported hippo corpses in the river.
“This catastrophe was caused by an Angolan mining company, which has acknowledged the facts,” Environment minister Eve Bazaiba said, reporting on the findings of a joint Congolese-Angolan commission of inquiry.
Four out of the five administrative territories in Kasai province have been affected by the disaster, totaling 968,000 people, the investigation found.
In addition to the 12 fatalities, whose cause of death is unknown, 4,502 cases of diarrhea and skin-related illness have been recorded, Bazaiba said late Thursday.
Kasai provincial Governor Dieudonne Pieme banned people from drinking water and eating fish from the river after the spill, but it was too late to avoid some people falling sick, AFP reports.
“Compensation should be paid to those who are victims, on the basis of the polluter-pays principle,” the government said.
Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, which manages the diamond mine in question previously said it immediately took measures to minimize the flow of sediment into rivers and that it donated food baskets to affected communities to mitigate the impact of the spill.
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