al-Mishraq

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Sulfur dioxide flag of the burning factory, south of the burning oil field Qayyarah , taken on October 22nd, 2016

Al-Mishraq ( Arabic الشركة العامة لكبريت المشراق, DMG aš-Šarika al-ʿāmma li-kibrīt al-Mišrāq ) is a state-owned Syrian sulfur factory about 45 km south of Mosul . There, the sulfur is extracted from an underground depot at a depth of 120–200 meters using the Frasch process .

history

In June 2003 the facility was set on fire and burned for three weeks. It released up to 21,000 tons of sulfur dioxide daily. It was the largest amount ever released in a fire by human hands.

In the period from 2010 to 2013 investments in the plant of 100 billion dinars were planned. The import of raw sulfur was also to be doubled from 500,000 tons at that time to 1,000,000 tons.

Before the renewed destruction, the American company Devco built a new sulfur distillation plant with a capacity of 500,000 tpa .

On October 22, 2016, the facility was set on fire by supporters of IS in the course of the battle for Mosul . A plume of toxic sulfur dioxide was in the air in a large area southeast of the facility. Members of the anti-IS coalition had to wear gas masks at Qayyarah Airfield West air base . Two people died as a result of the poisoning; around 1000 people were treated in hospitals for respiratory problems. The fire was extinguished after two days. The sulfur dioxide cloud spread over much of Iraq.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b NASA Earth Observatory: Sulfur Dioxide Spreads Over Iraq
  2. ↑ Suhail IA Khattab, Abdullah A. Ibrahim: Dissolved sulfate transport through soils in Al-Mishraq deposit , International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, Volume 7, 2013 - Issue 4, January 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ Company website , accessed on October 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ Iraq sulfur fire breaks records . In: BBC Online , October 26, 2004. Retrieved February 14, 2012. 
  5. ^ Mishraq Sulfur Purification Facility
  6. ^ Mosul battle: Hundreds treated over toxic fumes in Iraq , BBC News. October 22, 2016. 
  7. ↑ The Latest: Abadi: Kirkuk Nearly Secured After IS Attack , ABC News. October 22, 2016. 
  8. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37738667
  9. ↑ Iraqi army liberates the Christian city of Karakosh , Spiegel Online, October 22, 2016.
  10. ↑ Hundreds of people complain of breathlessness from sulfur gas , Zeit Online, October 22, 2016.

Coordinates: 35 ° 58 ′ 54 ″  N , 43 ° 18 ′ 43.2 ″  E