http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040310-113438-8648r.htm Poisoning hit Iraq minority community
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 10 (UPI) -- An estimated 400 Iraqis from the minority Muslim Yazid sect were poisoned in northern Iraq, apparently from drinking water which was contaminated deliberately.
Daily Taakhi, the newspaper of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said dozens of inhabitants in the town of Khanki, in the province of Dahouk, 550 kilometers (315 miles) north of Baghdad, were taken to hospital for severe poisoning and many died Wednesday from dehydration.
The newspaper said that the poisoning appeared to be a terrorist act.
It said the incident occurred a few days after writings were found on walls in the northern city of Mosul calling for the killing of Yazidis, who were described as infidels.
Yazidis, estimated at only 10,000, follow an offshoot sect of Shiism and consider themselves part of the Kurdish ethnicity. They mostly live in towns and villages west of Mosul and north of the Kurdish province of Dahouk.
Interesting that they don't say what they were poisoned with. Chem? Bio?
"The newspaper said that the poisoning appeared to be a terrorist act. " This reminded me of the AQ threat to poison the water system of an entire US city. I wonder what we screen for in water supplies, and if they would be able to find a toxic substance that we don't test for. Specifically, I was wondering about arsenic. (Ingested over a period of time.)
DENVER (AP) Viacom, EchoStar reach new contract to restore Viacom channels on DISH satellite network, companies say.
And they do so by remaining the cheapest satelitte digital provider ;)
MASS POISONING, SCHOOLCHILDREN - RUSSIA (YAKUTSK)
http://www.gazeta.ru/lenta.shtml Mass poisoning of 50 schoolchildren - Yakutsk (Russia)
About 50 children got poisoning in the Yakutsk city of Aldan. According to
the Ministry of Emergency situations, patients first started to be admitted
to Aldan hospital on Tuesday afternoon. All of the children admitted were
from school number 2. The age of children varies between 7-12. Children
complained of nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, and dizziness. During the day,
47 children were seen, 20 of them hospitalized.
Because 2 of the children were in especially serious condition, they were
transferred to the National Medical center. Physicians were not able to
give a complete diagnosis.
Municipal education chief of the Aldan region, Sergey Kuznezov, organized a
committee to investigate and help prevent further epidemics at school number 2.
Representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Internal Affairs,
Prosecution Office, Public Health Department, Education Administration, and
the State Surveillance Center are members of the committee.
The school canteen and chemistry lab rooms were carefully investigated; so
far nothing suspicious has been identified..
This article does not even give a clue as to the suspected source of the
poisoning. But hospitalizations imply something serious. Further
information is needed before clear conclusions can be drawn