In 2006, more than 30,000 Ivorians fell victim to high levels of poisonous gasses from a lethal toxic waste which was dumped by an European Oil company, Trafigura, British and Ivorian press sources revealed. Thousands of Ivoirians were reportedly rushed to local clinics, following the discovery of the dumped wastes, where nearly twenty people died. Up to seventy affected persons were hospitalised and a record 108,000 sought medical advice. Trafigura have claimed that there is no link between the gasses and the health disaster.