BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 16 (NNN-NINA) – About 90 people suffocated from the leak of chlorine gas, in Iraq’s eastern city of Kut, capital of Wasit Province, the Iraqi Ministry of Health said, Friday.
The leakage took place “at a water treatment facility in Kut, some 180 km south-east of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad,” said Sayf al-Badr, the ministry’s spokesman.
Most of the suffocation cases are not serious, he added.
The Wasit Health Department has taken all necessary precautions, to address the situation, al-Badr noted.
The statement did not say if the gas leak resulted from a sabotage or an accident.
In previous cases, the Daesh militants used chlorine gas in their terrorist attacks against civilians and Iraqi forces.
The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist militants across the country late in 2017.
Daesh remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out guerilla attacks from time to time, against security forces and civilians.– NNN-NINA
