(News24) The herbicide which a farmworker allegedly poured into a milk tank on his employer’s farm could have killed up to 2 000 people, an expert says.
Andries Stoffels, 37, was arrested shortly after the incident, Netwerk24 reported.
It is alleged that he poured Gramoxone, also known as Paraquat, into a milk tank on the farm Samber, in the Riversdale area, on February 7.
He appeared in the Riversdale Magistrate’s Court on a charge of malicious damage to property. His next appearance is on March 31.
The police are said to have seized the can which contained the Gramoxone.
Dr Gerhard Verdoorn of the Griffon Poison Information Centre said on Thursday: “Stoffels shouldn’t only be charged with malicious damage to property. Paraquat is the most poisonous of all herbicides. There is no antidote. If you ingest it, it’s tickets…”