UN office says Sri Lanka ship fire causes significant damage

The U.N. representative in Sri Lanka says the sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off the capital Colombo has caused a significant damage to the planet by releasing hazardous substances into the ecosystem

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The U.N. representative in Sri Lanka said the sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off the capital Colombo has caused “a significant damage to the planet” by releasing hazardous substances into the ecosystem. The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl sank off on Thursday a month after catching fire, raising concerns about a possible environmental disaster. The U.N. said it was coordinating international efforts and helping Sri Lanka in assessing the damage, recovery efforts and preventing such disasters in the future. “An environmental emergency of this nature causes significant damage to the planet by the release of hazardous substances into the ecosystem,” U.N. Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said in a statement late Saturday. "This in turn threatens lives and livelihoods of the population in the coastal areas.”