UPDATE: Hundreds suffer after ISIS sets fire to sulfur plant near Mosul
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Two people died and hundreds were treated for breathing problems after ISIS set fire to a chemical plant southeast of Mosul, the city in northern Iraq where the militants are making their last stand.
AFP reported the deaths of two civilians from the toxic smoke rising from the al-Mishraq sulfur plant southeast of Mosul, citing a military source.
And nearly 1,000 people were treated for breathing problems linked to toxic fumes from the fire, Reuters reported, citing hospital sources in Qayyara, a town near Mosul.
The US military reported that the fumes prompted American troops at the Qayyara airfield to put on protective masks.
Qayyara is the site of oil wells set alight by ISIS when it retreated from the town last August.
A cloud of white smoke blanketed the area where the factory is located, mingling with black fumes from oil wells that the militants had torched earlier.
AFP reported the deaths of two civilians from the toxic smoke rising from the al-Mishraq sulfur plant southeast of Mosul, citing a military source.
And nearly 1,000 people were treated for breathing problems linked to toxic fumes from the fire, Reuters reported, citing hospital sources in Qayyara, a town near Mosul.
The US military reported that the fumes prompted American troops at the Qayyara airfield to put on protective masks.
Qayyara is the site of oil wells set alight by ISIS when it retreated from the town last August.
A cloud of white smoke blanketed the area where the factory is located, mingling with black fumes from oil wells that the militants had torched earlier.