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It is an unprecedented verdict: the British judiciary has blamed air pollution in London for the death of a nine-year-old girl.
The poor air quality "contributed significantly" to the death of little Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah in 2013, found the deputy investigative officer for the Inner South Coroner's Court, Philip Barlow, on Wednesday after almost two weeks of hearings on the case.
The nine-year-old died in February 2013 after a severe asthma attack.
In the previous three years, she suffered numerous seizures and had to be hospitalized almost 30 times with difficulty breathing.
Her apartment was on a busy ring road in the Lewisham district.
Only the second examination revealed the findings
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An initial forensic examination in 2014 revealed that Ella had died of acute shortness of breath due to her severe asthma.
However, these findings were questioned last year, and a new investigation was ordered.
We wanted justice, says the child's mother
Source: AFP
The coroner charged with investigating the death came to a different conclusion.
Ella was "exposed to nitrogen dioxide levels" that were "above the guidelines of the World Health Organization," said Barlow.
The case had received a lot of attention in the UK.
According to the Daily Mail, Ella's mother Rosamund said in an interview: “Yes, it was about my daughter, and that we finally have air pollution on our death certificate.
We fought for the justice she deserves. ”But there are also many other children, the mother continues, who have to run around every day in a city with high levels of air pollution.
It is expected that the ruling will now also ensure strict emissions levels in the British capital in the long term.