Fire on Container Ship Carrying Nitric Acid Continues for Sixth Day Off Sri Lanka Coast
A fire continued to burn aboard a container ship carrying chemicals off the coast of Sri Lanka on May 26, six days after it first broke out. A damaging explosion was reported the day before, injuring two people.
Footage by the Sri Lanka Air Force shows smoke pouring from the Singapore-flagged X Press Pearl, which was carrying 25 tonnes of nitric acid among other cargo.
According to an AP report, India sent three ships, a tugboat and an aircraft to help firefighting and pollution control, and the first vessel arrived in the area, off the port of Colombo, on Tuesday night.
The fire first broke out on May 20 before the situation deteriorated on May 25.
Singapore’s Daily Mirror reported that all 25 crew were evacuated, and that two had been hospitalized with injuries. The explosion sent several containers into the sea, the Mirror said. Credit: Sri Lanka Air Force via Storyful
