Hong Kong cleans up 93 tonnes of palm oil, shuts 13 beaches after huge spill

Under Secretary for the Environment Tse Chin-wan visits a beach at Lamma Island on the progress of the cleaning up of palm oil by the government, in Hong Kong, China August 8, 2017. Hong Kong Information Services Department/Handout via REUTERS

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong has scooped up over 90 tonnes of palm oil and closed more than a dozen beaches after a ship spill washed foul-smelling, Styrofoam-like clumps ashore, the latest major environmental disaster to blight the territory's waters.

Dead fish, shells, rocks, plastic bottles and other rubbish could still be found coated with globules of palm oil on beaches across the Chinese-controlled territory on Wednesday, six days after two vessels collided in the Pearl River estuary.