Senegal: the authorities are mobilizing to remove ammonium nitrate from the port of Dakar

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2 min

In Senegal, a quantity of ammonium nitrate, equivalent to that of Beirut, is stored in a transit zone of the autonomous port of Dakar, in the heart of the Senegalese capital. Only 350 of the 3,050 tons in storage have already been evacuated. After the double explosion in Lebanon, the Senegalese authorities then mobilized to find a solution to get these dangerous chemicals out of the country.

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The concerns of Dakar residents are beginning to disappear. Since Friday evening, the ammonium nitrate stored in the port of Dakar has been loaded into trucks of thirty tons, heading to Mali.

A total of 100 vehicles will be needed to remove the approximately 3,000 tonnes of this substance used to make fertilizers and explosives.

According to the Senegalese port authorities, an emergency procedure has been put in place to evacuate all of the cargo as quickly as possible. For the Ministry of the Environment, which had refused to the shipowner, responsible for this stock, to store ammonium nitrate about forty kilometers from Dakar, it is a relief.

Escorted by the gendarmerie, the trucks filled with these chemicals will be able to cross the border, assure the port authorities, despite the crisis affecting Mali and the ECOWAS embargo.

► To read also: Massive stocks of ammonium nitrate at the port of Dakar worry Senegal

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• Senegal
• Mali
• Environment