Sri Lanka launches probe after burning Singapore registered-ship leads to pollution crisis

Sri Lanka's Air force personnel remove debris washed ashore from the Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl, which has been burning for the eleventh consecutive day in the sea off Sri Lanka's Colombo Harbour, on a beach in Colombo on May 30, 2021. - AFP

Negombo, Sri Lanka, May 30,2021 (AFP): Sri Lanka launched a criminal probe on Sunday into a massive container ship fire that has swamped the island nation's coast with plastic pollution in an unprecedented marine disaster.

Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian country's famed beaches, forcing a fishing ban and prompting fears of ecological damage.