‘Huge’ amounts of chemical waste dumped into river in Poland

Dead fish float in the shallow waters of the German-Polish border River Oder (Patrick Pleul/dpa/AP)

Huge amounts of chemical waste were probably dumped intentionally into the Oder River, which runs along the border with Germany, causing environmental damage so severe it will take the river years to recover, Poland’s prime minister said on Friday.

Tonnes of dead fish have been seen floating or washed ashore on the Oder’s banks over the past two weeks, but the issue only erupted into a major scandal late this week.