Water poisoning in Syria’s Hasakah rises to 1,200 cases in May
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – 1,200 poisoning cases have been recorded in Hasakah Governorate in Northeast Syria since May as a result of water contamination.
According to a toll published by the National Hospital in the city of Hasakah, about 1,200 cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diarrhea, and nausea and vomiting have been recorded since the beginning of May. 75 percent of the cases are children.
The cases are due to the contaminated water that mainly affects the children and the elderly, Rizgar Khalil, a doctor at the National Hospital that is run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), told North Press.
Khalil said the vomiting and diarrhea may cause dehydration, especially for children.
He added that the 40 beds in the children’s department at the hospital have become full, so that they have been forced to receive the children in the other departments.
The doctor called on the residents to abide by the preventive actions and cleanliness of food and drink.
About one million people in Hasakah depend on water tankers to access to water for drinking as Turkish forces halt pumping water from Alouk station in Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) countryside, north of Hasakah.
The Alouk water station, which is located in the countryside of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in the north of Hasakah, has been under the control of Turkey and its affiliated armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), since October 2019 following a military operation dubbed “Peace Spring” in which Turkey occupied Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad.