The environment minister of the African country, Ève Bazaiba, spoke on Friday of an ecological disaster. Dead hippos and fish have already been discovered in the Kasai River.
According to Bazaiba, the discoloration of the river was triggered by the leakage of toxic substances in an Angolan diamond factory. The pollution threatens to reach the capital of the Congo, the city of ten million people, Kinshasa, she said.
It was initially unclear which substance caused the pollution. The Ministry of the Environment sent a team of experts to the affected region.