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The oil spill in Mauritius.
- Two crew members were killed when their tugboat collided with a barge during bad weather.
- They were cleaning up a massive oil spill off the coast of Mauritius.
- Two other members involved in the collision are missing.
Two crew members of a tugboat involved in cleaning up an oil spill off Mauritius were killed on Monday night when their vessel collided with a barge in bad weather, the island’s prime minister said.
“It is tragic that we have lost two crew of the tugboat while two others are still missing,” Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said Tuesday.
Four other crew members were rescued by helicopter and two were still missing, Mahend Gungapersad, a member of parliament for the opposition Labor Party, told Reuters news agency.
“We are doing everything possible to locate them, with all our means and with the help of fishermen in the area,” said the prime minister, extending his “condolences to the family” of the murdered sailors.
The MV Wakashio, a Japanese bulk carrier, struck a coral reef off the coast of the Indian Ocean island nation in July, spilling thousands of tons of crude oil into the sea and suffocating marine life in a pristine lagoon.
According to Gungapersad, the tugboat and barge sent distress signals between 07:30 and 20:00 on Monday.
The tugboat capsized after the collision. Both ships were moving parts salvaged from the site of the oil spill in the port.
Fuel
Jugnauth said the tug was carrying some fuel at the time “but there is no risk of a leak.” He promised an investigation into the accident.
The prime minister faces mounting anger over his administration’s handling of the oil spill, which has caused incalculable ecological damage to a protected coastline that sustains the island’s economy.
“This incident will add to the prevailing anger,” Gungapersad said, referring to protests over the weekend over the handling of the operation to contain the oil spill and the deaths of dozens of dolphins in the area.
“We had the oil spill, then we had the dolphins killed and now two people have died.”
In addition to dolphin deaths, the spill has threatened decades of work to conserve local seabirds and plant species in a nearby protected reserve.
An estimated 75,000 people marched over the weekend in the capital Port Louis, many dressed in black and demanding responses from the government in the largest public demonstration in 40 years.
