A Canadian gold mining company is reported to have agreed compensation for the spillage of a toxic chemical into a lake in Kyrgyzstan.

The Russian news agency, Interfax, quoted the Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev as saying that the company ,Kumtor, would compensate for all environmental damage to the region, as well as for the trauma and losses suffered by local residents.

The accident occurred last week, when a truck belonging to the company crashed, spilling nearly two thousand kilos of sodium cyanide into a river, which feeds the famous Kyrgyz lake, Issik-Kul.

Seventy people were taken to hospital with suspected cyanide poisoning, after the accident.