– This is probably the worst beach pollution so far in our history, says the head of the marine environmental protection authority in the country MEPA, Dharshani Lahandapura.
Thousands of military and security personnel are still cleaning the beaches of plastic waste and other debris from the ship, which caught fire on May 20.
Authorities are concerned about millions of microplastics being washed up on the beach near the capital Colombo, threatening fish farming. The beach promenade is known for fishing for crabs and is also a popular tourist destination.
The Singapore-registered container ship X-Press Pearl has been burning for over a week.
There is still some smoke coming from the ship, but the authorities say there is control of the fire. They believe the explosion and fire were caused by a nitric acid leak that the crew had been aware of since May 11. 25 were evacuated from the ship.
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