As local media report, the fire started on August 3. Eyewitnesses immediately noticed huge columns of black toxic smoke rising high into the sky. So far, the fire has engulfed a small part of the cemetery, whose total area is 600,000 square meters.
It is reported that in total, about 52 million car tires are stored at the dump in Sulaybiyah. Some of them are buried in the sand, while others lie on the surface in the form of rubber piles.
In this state, the worn-out tires have been "stored" for over 30 years. Since last autumn, Kuwaiti authorities have been discussing the possibility of recycling the tires, but, apparently, they have not made progress on this issue yet. Meanwhile, environmentalists are already raising the alarm: if the fire is not extinguished in the near future, it could cause enormous harm to nature, since burning tires, especially old ones, releases a huge amount of strong carcinogens such as biphenyl and benzopyrene, as well as dioxin, furan, anthracene, and lead.
