File photo: An excavator dredges the River Nile as part of a clean up operation in Cairo June1, 2010 (Photo; Reuters)
A joint operation by the armed forces and experts from the water resources ministry has ended the crisis caused by the sinking of a Nile barge carrying phosphate, Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazi said on Sunday.
The removal took 12 days in an operation that also included support from Qena security directorate and the health ministry.
A barge carrying 500 tonnes of phosphate capsized in Upper Egypt’s Qena, sparking fears over contamination of Egypt's primary source of drinking water.
The minister said last week that all phosphate that entered the Nile had been removed.
The minister said he had received a technical report saying that the water was “good for all uses.”
Egypt is heavily dependent on the Nile River, from which it gets 55 billion cubic metres of water annually.
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