Hong Kong stepped up efforts on Wednesday to clean up a massive palm oil spill, with authorities scooping up more than 90 tons of foul-smelling, styrofoam-like clumps in one of the worst environmental disasters to blight the territory's waters.
Dead fish, shells, rocks, plastic bottles and other rubbish could still be found coated with globules of palm oil on beaches across the Chinese-controlled territory six days after the spill caused after two vessels collided in the Pearl River estuary.
The government said it had scooped up 93 tons of oil waste, most of it congealed, and the amount left floating on the sea surface had fallen significantly.
Stretches of some of Hong Kong's most popular beaches were still smothered with white clumps of jelly-like palm oil on Wednesday and an accompanying sour stench.
The spill has sparked outrage among some residents and environmentalists and comes just a year after mountains of rubbish washed up on Hong Kong's beaches, with labels and packaging indicating most of it had come from mainland China.
The government has closed 13 beaches since Sunday, a day after it said it had been informed of the spill by mainland authorities. The Marine Department confirmed the collision happened on Thursday.
Environmental groups have said the size of the spill could bring severe ecological consequences, although the government said preliminary tests showed few traces of oil in affected areas.
REUTERS
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