Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Two French executives of the Dutch oil trader Trafigura have been arrested in connection with the illegal dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast capital. Seven people died and thousands got sick last month after inhaling fumes from black sludge that was unloaded at Abidjan port and dumped at various sites around the city. Trafigura expressed outrage over the arrests. It said it delivered the waste, a mixture of gasoline and corrosives, to an Ivorian company, which was responsible for disposal. The arrested executives, director Claude Dauphin and Jean-Pierre Valentini, the manager for West Africa, were part of a team that Trafigura sent over two weeks ago to help with the cleanup. Ivorians continue to suffer from vomiting, stomachaches, and nosebleeds.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Syria’s strange post-Assad electionThe Explainer Sunday’s limited vote ‘suited the phase Syria is undergoing’, says interim president
-
Why did the China spying case collapse?Today’s Big Question Unwillingness to call China an ‘enemy’ apparently scuppered espionage trial
-
Alchemised: how Harry Potter fanfic went mainstreamIn The Spotlight Traditional publishers are signing up fan fiction authors to rewrite their ‘explosively popular’ romances for the mass market
