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Lumalabas ang dugo ng mga Ethiopians sa ilong at kanilang bibig bago raw matumba at mamatay dahil sa isang mystery na sakit na sinisisi sa toxic waste mula sa Chinese Oil Drilling.
Ang sakit na ito ay di umano kumakalat na sa mga village malapit sa isang gas project sa Somali, at inireport na naging kulay dilaw daw ang mata ng mga biktima bago magkaroon ng lagnat at pamamaga ng katawan at pagkamatay.
Ibang sintomas ng nasabing sakit ay paninilaw ng palad,walang ganang kumain at di makatulog.
Ayon sa report ng Guradian,ang Officials ng Addis Ababa ay nag deny tungkol sa alegasyon ng health at environmental crisis sa nasabing rehiyon.
Hindi naman naging klaro kung ano ang dahilan ng sakit na ito, kahit na marami ang nag sususpetsa na ito ay nagmula sa chemical waste na nagpopoisoned sa water supply ng naturang rehiyon.
Sa ulat ng Daily Mail:
'It is the toxins that flow in the rainfall from Calub [gas field] that are responsible for this epidemic,' victim Khadar Abdi Abdullahi said.
Mr Abdullahi, 23, from Jigjiga, was discharged from hospital when doctors told him there was nothing more they could do when he fell ill. He later died.
An adviser to the Somali regional government claimed there 'are new diseases that have never been seen before in this area.'
'Without any public health protection, it is very clear that POLY-GCL uses chemicals that are detrimental to human health,' they added.
China's POLY-GCL Petroleum Investments last year confirmed plans to build a 767-km Ethiopia to Djibouti natural gas pipeline to transport Ethiopian gas to an export terminal in the Red Sea state.
The East African country found extensive gas deposits in its eastern Ogaden Basin in the 1970s.
POLY-GCL has been developing the Calub and Hilala fields there since signing a production sharing deal with Ethiopia in 2013. Calub, south-east of Jigjiga, is reportedly due to begin commercial gas production shortly.
One former engineer from the Chinese firm alleged there had been regular spillages of drilling fluids including sulphuric acid over the three years he worked onsite in Calub.
Another said 'those indigenous to the land die from raw toxins spilled out of sheer carelessness. Operational companies in Calub have forfeited their duty to protect local people'.
But it is possible these chemical spillages may be historical, or may have been caused by the likes of Ethiopian transport firms.
Ketsela Tadesse, director of licensing at the federal ministry of mines and petroleum, said 'all the gas wells at Calub and elsewhere in the Ogaden Basin, are sealed, safe and secured … according to international standards'.
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