Officials: Sunken Nile barge cannot be removed in one piece, phosphate spill not connected to Sharqiya poisonings

A barge that capsized on April 21, spilling 500 tons of phosphates into the Nile, will have to be removed from the river in pieces, Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy said in a statement Wednesday.

Removal efforts are still underway, but have been complicated by the accumulation of mud around the barge, leaving military equipment unable to lift the entire barge out of the water, Fahmy said. The first two phases of removal were planned for Wednesday, with the remainder of work to commence Thursday.

The minister also stated water quality tests have been taken regularly since the accident, and that all 435 samples have met safety standards.

Officials from the Ministries of Water, Health and Environment have downplayed the impact of the accident, asserting that the spilled cargo of phosphates —most of which has reportedly been removed from the river — does not present a threat to human health.

According to a statement from the Health Ministry, the barge was carrying large chunks of phosphate rock with no or very little solubility in water, and drinking water is “absolutely safe.”

Officials have also denied any link between the spill last Thursday and an outbreak of poisonings reported in Sharqiya province that began Friday.

According to the Health Ministry, 379 cases of suspected poisoning were reported in Sharqiya, on April 24, with 234 of them discharged from hospitals on the same day. By Sunday, more than 750 people reported poisoning, with eight reported to still be undergoing treatment.

According to local media reports, some area residents suspected tap water may have been the source of the poisoning, with some saying the water smelled strange around the time when people fell ill.

The timing of the two incidents led to questions over whether the poisonings were related to the earlier spill in the Nile. Officials pointed out that Sharqiya is more than 600 kilometers downstream from site of the accident, and several major cities lie in between, including Cairo, Beni Suef, Sohag and Assiut. Mass poisonings were not reported in other parts of Egypt.

According to Aswat Masreya, initial investigations by the prosecution indicate that the poisonings may have been caused by disinfectants falling into a water reservoir.

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