BRUSSELS, Belgium (26 Jan 2003) -- Hundreds of dead, oil-stained birds washed ashore over the weekend and an oil spill from a sunken cargo ship in the English Channel closed in on Belgian beaches Sunday. About 3,000 gallons of heavy fuel leaked from the Tricolor, which went down Dec. 14, creating an oil slick 2 1/2 miles long and 160 yards wide on Saturday. Soldiers were put on standby Sunday to clear the beaches of oil once the spill hits the beaches. Scuba diving teams have helped to place floating buffers around some nature reserves along the 40-mile coast to limit environmental damage. On Sunday, the weather was too rough to combat the slick at sea and much of the spill was breaking up into clots drifting toward the Belgian coast. | | Over the past three days, hundreds of birds were found dead on the beaches, covered in heavy oil and environmental protection officials said many more had died at sea. The Tricolor, laden with BMWs, Volvos and Saabs, sank Dec. 14, after colliding in thick fog with a container ship about 30 miles east of Ramsgate, southeastern England. |
