BISHKEK -- At least 11 officials have now been charged in Kyrgyzstan over the purchase of some 9,000 tons of radioactive coal from neighboring Kazakhstan last fall.
The Prosecutor-General's Office told RFE/RL that the head of the Kyrgyz Power Stations Joint Stock Company and a senior official of the Kyrgyz Customs Service have been charged with negligence in connection with the case.
At least nine other officials -- including the Kyrgyz energy minister and his deputy -- were earlier charged over the decision to permit the coal to be imported and distributed to schools in Kyrgyzstan's northern Chui region.
The contaminated coal was supplied to Kyrgyzstan in September from the Qulan deposit in Kazakhstan.
The tainted coal was transferred back to Kazakhstan last month.
The Prosecutor-General's Office told RFE/RL that the head of the Kyrgyz Power Stations Joint Stock Company and a senior official of the Kyrgyz Customs Service have been charged with negligence in connection with the case.
At least nine other officials -- including the Kyrgyz energy minister and his deputy -- were earlier charged over the decision to permit the coal to be imported and distributed to schools in Kyrgyzstan's northern Chui region.
The contaminated coal was supplied to Kyrgyzstan in September from the Qulan deposit in Kazakhstan.
The tainted coal was transferred back to Kazakhstan last month.
