FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from a fire on board the MV X-Press Pearl vessel in the seas off the Colombo Harbour, in Sri Lanka May 30, 2021. Sri Lanka Airforce Media/Handout via REUTERS
COLOMBO 鈥� A听肠补谤驳辞听蝉丑颈辫听carrying tons of听肠丑别尘颈肠补濒s sank听辞蹿蹿听厂谤颈听Lanka鈥榮 west coast, its navy said Wednesday, and tons of plastic pellets have fouled the country鈥檚听谤颈肠丑听蹿颈蝉丑颈苍驳听飞补迟别谤蝉听in one of its worst-ever marine disasters.
The government on Wednesday suspended聽蹿颈蝉丑颈苍驳听along an 80-km (50-mile) stretch of the island鈥檚 coastline, affecting 5,600聽蹿颈蝉丑颈苍驳听boats, and hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to clean affected beaches.
The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid along with other听肠丑别尘颈肠补濒s and cosmetics, was anchored听辞蹿蹿听厂谤颈听Lanka鈥榮 west coast when a fire erupted on board after an explosion on May 20.
Flaming containers laden with听肠丑别尘颈肠补濒s tumbled into the sea from the听蝉丑颈辫鈥榮 deck as emergency crews sought to contain the blaze over the ensuing two weeks.
The craft began to sink early on Wednesday, and a salvage crew tried to tow the vessel to deeper water away from the coast, Fisheries Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a tweet, but the attempt was abandoned after several hours.
鈥淭丑别 towing of the fire-engulfed X-Press Pearl聽蝉丑颈辫听was stopped due to the rear end of the vessel hitting the sea bed,鈥� navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva told Reuters.
Photos taken by the country鈥檚 air force showed the charred wreck of the聽蝉丑颈辫听spewing white smoke as it listed to the right and began sinking, and part of it soon touched the seabed, just 22 meters (73 feet) deep in the immediate area.
The navy was preparing to deal with an oil spill after the聽蝉丑颈辫听sank, Silva added.
鈥淭丑别聽蝉丑颈辫听has dealt a death blow to our lives,鈥� said Joshua Anthony, head of a region聽蹿颈蝉丑颈苍驳听union. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 go into the sea which means we can鈥檛 make a living.鈥�
The MV X-Press Pearl had left the port of Hazira in India on May 15 and was on its way to Singapore via Colombo.