Sri Lanka facing marine disaster from Singapore registered burning ship, says official

Smoke billows from the Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl, which has been burning for the ninth consecutive day in the sea off Sri Lanka's Colombo Harbour, on a beach in Colombo on May 28, 2021. - AFP

Negombo (Sri Lanka), May 29 (AFP): Sri Lanka is facing its worst beach pollution crisis as tonnes of plastic waste from a burning container ship wash ashore, a senior environment official said Saturday.

Fishermen have been banned from an 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch of coast near the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl as an international firefighting operation went into a 10th day.