Medellin authorities on Sunday declared a red alert for the second time in two weeks over the health hazards caused by extreme pollution.
The red alert triggered a number of emergency measures, most notably the ban on half of the city’s motorized vehicles, in all 10 municipalities that make up the Medellin Metropolitan Area.
According to SIATA, the system measuring air quality in the metropolitan area, 14 of the 19 air quality measuring systems turned to red on Sunday, a day on which there is least traffic traditionally.
The emergency measures will last at least until Wednesday in an attempt to improve the air quality to the point that breathing stops being a health hazard.
The pollution is mainly due to a growth in the use of cars that are fueled by the substandard gasoline provided by state-run oil company Ecopetrol.
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