Heavy air pollution caused the death of a nine-year-old girl in the UK in 2013. This is the conclusion reached by the coroner of South London on Wednesday, December 16, reports The Independent .
This is the first time in the history of the United Kingdom that authorities have admitted that air pollution has led to a person’s death. Other reasons for the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah were cited acute respiratory failure and severe asthma attacks.
It is reported that the girl often suffered from seizures and was hospitalized more than 30 times three years before her death. When the child was six years old, she had to be placed in an artificial coma for three days. By the summer of 2012, Ella could not move independently and was declared disabled.
She lived with her family in the Luishem area, not far from one of the busiest roads in the capital. In 2018, it was found that air pollution levels there regularly exceeded acceptable levels in the three years leading up to the girl’s death.
In early December, over 300 people were hospitalized in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with symptoms of epilepsy, dizziness and fainting. Air pollution was cited as a possible cause. Later it was reported that poisoning with mercury and other heavy metals could be the cause.