Hundreds of police poisoned

By staff and wires
October 09, 2006 09:53am

HUNDREDS of Iraqi police officers have fallen violently ill from poisoning after eating a meal at a base in southern Iraq where food is provided by an Australian company, a report has said.

The Associated Press has reported some of the officers began bleeding from the ears and nose. Hundreds have been rushed to nearby hospitals.

One officials has said 11 policemen have died after the poisoning, but the regional governor has denied that. He has said an investigation is underway to determine whether the poisoning was intentional.

He is reported as saying food and water at the base near Numaniyah, 80km south of Baghdad, is provided by an Australian contractor. He would not name the company.

"Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the iftar," Wasit Governor Hamad al-Latif has said, referring to the meal eaten just after sunset that breaks the day's fast during Ramadan.

He has said some of the officers are in a critical condition.

He has said samples of food and water are being tested "to determine the substance in them". Other samples will be sent to Baghdad for further testing.

Between 600 and 700 officers have been affected, an Environment Ministry official is reported as saying.

He has said some collapsed immediately after the meal, while others "one after the other" as they headed out into a yard.

US military ambulances and Iraqi ambulances have taken the sick to hospitals in nearby Kut as well as in Numaniyah.

The affected officers were part of the Karrar division of the Iraqi police, Associated Press has reported. The division is normally based in Baghdad and is made up mainly of Shiites.

Iraqi police are regular targets of insurgents.

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Hundreds Of Iraqi Police Fall Ill After Poisoning At Meal...

Associated Press QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA October 8, 2006 at 08:38 PM
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Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick from poisoning Sunday at a base in southernIraq after the evening meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast, and officials said they were investigating whether the poisoning was intentional.

An official with the Environment Ministry said 11 policemen had died. However, the governor of Wasit province -- where the poisoning took place -- denied any deaths, though he said some of the victims were in critical condition. There was no immediate explanation for the contradictory reports.

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