At least 50 people have died in Somalia after drinking
contaminated water from a well in northern Mogadishu, an official in that East
African country said Thursday.
Osman Mohamed, the deputy commissioner for Somalia's Yaqshid
district, the deaths among those who drank from the newly
constructed well. More than 150 people who had water from that well were
recently hospitalized. Continue..
Hawo Abdi, a mother of four, told CNN that her 8-year-old child is
among those who died after drinking the contaminated water.
While access to drinkable water has improved in recent years, it
still remains a major and sometimes deadly problem in some places.
That's especially true in parts of Africa, and even more so in
Somalia, which has some of the lowest rates of water coverage in the world.
The United Nations reports that 115 people die every hour in Africafrom
diseases linked to inferior sanitation, poor hygiene and contaminated water.
Of course, available quality drinking water is just one of several
pressing issues in Somalia. The country is also dealing with persistent
violence, much of it linked to the militant group Al-Shabaab.
It was not immediately clear how the water that led to the recent
deaths got contaminated, including whether anyone or any group might be
responsible.
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