‘Victim of environmental pollution’ dies in West Kordofan

The environmental pollution caused by oil production companies in Keilak, Kharasana, and El Barasaya in West Kordofan has reportedly led to one death.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, an activist reported from Karkar, east of the Neem and Balila oil fields, that Mohamed Ahmed Dawelbeit died in the area.

“He suffered from diarrhoea, haemorrhages, and pneumonia caused by environmental pollution in the region,” he said.

“A girl called Ebada Yahya was transferred to the hospital of Lagawa because of severe nose-bleeding,”he added. “Another girl, Maimouna Saleh, and Zakariya Jubeir from the same area are suffering from heavy vomiting and diarrhoea,”.

Worried residents have called on the West Kordofan authorities and health organisations “to urgently intervene to save the lives of the people who have become ill and combat the environmental pollution in the state”.

West Kordofan is considered Sudan’s number one oil state as it includes all the country’s producing oil fields such as Heglig, Difra, Kanar, Balila, Neem, and El Barasaya.

Environmental experts and MPs have pointed as well to health hazards threatening people living close to oil fields. In December 2015, members of the Sudanese parliament discussed the decline of fertility among women living in West Kordofan’s Balila and Moga. A year later, MPs from West Kordofan again complained about the spread of diseases among pregnant women and children in the state, allegedly caused by industrial chemicals and petroleum residues.