Officials in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol fear the worst for their residents, as cholera and other diseases have been identified in the city as corpses and rubble continue to line the streets. Mayor Vadym Boichenko said the water supply to the war-torn city was contaminated, possibly with the bodies of the dead, causing an uncertain number of people to show symptoms. “There is an outbreak of dysentery and cholera,” he said on Friday, as about 100,000 remain in the city after Russia’s conquest of the city last month, Sky News reported. People board an evacuation train at Pokrovsk train station in eastern Ukraine on Friday, June 10, 2022. (AP Photo / Bernat Armangue) (AP Photo / Bernat Armangue) Cholera is a diarrheal disease that is often transmitted through people who drink contaminated food and water. RUSSIA CLAIMS IN EASTERN UKRAINE, BUT ANALYSTS PROPOSE “EXPENDITURE” PROGRESS, POWER “REDUCED” Boichenko fears the outbreak could soon be deadly. FILE – Smoke rises from the Azovstal Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol during the Mariupol bombing of territory under the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (AP Photo / Alexei Alexandrov ) (AP Photo / Alexei Alexandrov, Archive) “This is, unfortunately, the assessment of our doctors: that the war that took over 20,000 inhabitants … unfortunately, with these outbreaks of infection, will claim thousands of other Mariupolites,” the Ukrainian mayor said, according to Sky News. MORE THAN 1,000 FIGHTERS IN MARIUPOL, UKRAINE, TRANSPORTED TO RUSSIA FOR “INVESTIGATION”: REPORT According to the report, Boichenko lives outside the city after falling under Russian control. The UK Ministry of Defense agreed with the mayor, saying in a briefing on Friday morning that the city is in danger of a “big” cholera outbreak. “Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in the Russian-occupied territories. Access to safe drinking water has been inconsistent, with major disruptions to telephone and internet services continuing,” the statement said. There is probably a critical shortage of medicines in Hersonissos, while Mariupol is in danger of a major cholera epidemic. “Individual cases of cholera have been reported since May.” The ministry said Ukraine had a major cholera epidemic in 1995 and other small ones since then, especially along the Azov coast where Mariupol is located. He added, “Medical services in Mariupol may have already almost collapsed: a major cholera outbreak in Mariupol will make it worse.” A Ukrainian tank drives in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo / Bernat Armangue) (AP Photo / Bernat Armangue) UN health officials have not confirmed the mayor’s comments, but World Health Organization epidemiologist Dr. Margaret Harris has previously predicted that the disease could spread throughout the city from areas where bombings for weeks, “the report said. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION About 400,000 people lived in Mariupol before the Ukraine-Russia war. More than 5,000 civilians have been killed in Mariupol. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
