Cote d'Ivoire's government resigned on Wednesday in a symbolic gesture of its responsibility for the poisoning incident in Abidjan, which has killed at least three people, made more than 1,500 others ill and triggered protests, according to state television.

An emergency meeting was held in the political capital Yamoussoukro, where interim Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny tendered his resignation on behalf of the government to President Laurent Gbagbo, a broadcast said.

Gbagbo, who has accepted the resignation, said he would meet Banny on Thursday to discuss the formation of a new government.

The president also made it clear that "those who are responsible must be hunted down and sanctioned."

The poisoning was attributed to a Panamanian-registered ship, which unloaded hundreds of tons of waste containing hydrogen sulphide in densely populated areas last month.

Banny described the situation as "very serious" after local medics reported that hundreds of residents had developed symptoms of nausea, sore chests, vomiting and diarrhoea. The government also appealed for international help.

Following the incident, residents took to the streets in Abidjan in protest. Some roads were blocked by branches and boulders during the anti-pollution demonstration.

Police were reported to have been in confrontation with angry protesters, and fired tear gas to disperse them.

The government on television appealed for calm to allow medics to reach hospital to treatment the sick.

(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2006)