Colombia searches for missing cyanide

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Colombian authorities, seeking to head off a potential environmental disaster, were still searching Tuesday for two missing cyanide barrels that had been aboard a ferry that capsized in the Magdalena River, reports Chris Kraul from Bogota.

A total of 96 drums of the highly toxic chemical were aboard the vessel when it sank early Saturday in Colombia’s longest river. All but two of the canisters, which were loaded on a vehicle that was on the ferry, had been recovered by late Tuesday afternoon.

The urgency of the situation was made clear Sunday and Monday by the fact that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe remained at the site, about 220 miles north of the capital, Bogota, to oversee salvage operations.

Click here to read more about cyanide in Colombia.