Dust cloud over Mali disrupts air traffic

[senorpepr]

BAMAKO (AFP) - Air traffic in and out of the Malian capital was likely to be disrupted for a second day running as a huge dust cloud hung over the city, airport sources here said.

"Several aircraft were not able to land (Thursday) and, according to the weather services, the phenomenon is expected to recur on Friday," a control tower official at Bamako-Senou international airport told AFP late Thursday.

At least three flights were rerouted to Niamey in Niger, he said.

The dust cloud also caused problems for road traffic in Bamako, where visibility on Thursday was only a few dozen meters (yards), an AFP correspondent said.

Many cars had their headlights on in the middle of the day, the correspondent said.

A doctor advised people suffering from respiratory problems to remain at home with their doors and windows shut.

Meteorological official Aminata Makalou Coulibaly said the dust cloud had been caused by rising pressure in the Azores anticyclone.

"We haven't seen a dust cloud like this for ten years in Bamako," she said, adding that the same phenomenon had also been reported in the south of the country.