In a March 5 press conference, Somali MP Awad Ahmed Ashra explained that the Boxing Day tsunami had "thrown out containers containing toxic waste" on the country's coastline, causing widespread illness including skin disorders and abdominal haemorrhage. Ashra said that the waste, which includes uranium, mercury and lead, was dumped by unnamed European Union companies during the war. He appealed to the EU to help fund a clean-up effort.
From Green Left Weekly, March 16, 2005.
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