Ivorian toxic victim numbers soar

Residents of the biggest city, Abidjan, have been reporting health problems, including headaches and vomiting, since a ship offloaded tons of waste. These were dumped by a local company in leaking drums on open-air sites. Four of the six dead are children. Last week the entire government resigned over the pollution scandal. The UN has set up an inter-agency team and the Ivorians have recruited extra medical staff to deal with the crisis.

"There were a total of 15,749 consultations by yesterday evening," health ministry spokesman Simeon N'Da told AFP news agency. "Of these, 23 people have been hospitalised and six have died." A French team is analysing the waste and says it will produce a report by the end of this week.

from the BBC