Sri Lankan officials brace for oil spill from sinking cargo ship
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent from Environment | The Guardian on (#5JKK4)
Navy tugboats and helicopters monitor wreckage as green film surrounds chemical-laden vessel
Sri Lankan officials have begun preparing for a potentially devastating oil spill after a cargo ship carrying toxic chemicals caught fire off the coast and sank.
The MV X-Press Pearl had been carrying 25 tonnes of nitric acid, sodium hydroxide and other dangerous substances when a blaze broke out on 20 May while it was docked nine miles (14km) from the port in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo.
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