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DR Congo’s Tshikapa River has turned red from pollution, officials say
A toxic leak from a massive diamond mine in Angola has killed at least 12 people and left 4,500 sick, a minister from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo said.
The leak turned a tributary of the Congo River red and killed a large number of fish, which some people ate, said Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba.
She said DR Congo would seek damages but did not say how much.
There has been no public response so far from the owners of the Catoca mine.
According to the Reuters news agency, the mine produces around 75% of Angolan diamonds.
After a reservoir containing toxic mine byproducts leaked in late July, the Tshikapa River across the border in DR Congo turned red, killing hippos, fish and other animals.
Ms. Bazaiba said there were “tons of dead fish floating in the river… and then the first instinct was to take the fish”.
Authorities in Kasai province have banned people from drinking water and eating fish from the river, but around one million people have been affected.
Communities living on the banks of the river suffered from diarrhea and other health problems.
Ms Bazaiba said it was good that the Angolan government and the mine owners acknowledged what had happened.
But she did not give more details on DR Congo’s claim for damages, which she said was in line with the “polluter pays” principle.
Catoca, which is jointly owned by Angolan state diamond company Endiama and Russian company Alrosa, said it had built two dikes to filter sediment from the water and the leak was plugged, Reuters reports.
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