Carcasses of marine creatures wash up after X-Press Pearl fire

COLOMBO (News1st): Turtles had washed up on the shores of Galle, Puttalam, Batticaloa, Ampara and Jaffna. The carcass of a turtle had washed up on the Galbokka coast in Kosgoda, making it the seventh to be found in the area. Another turtle had washed up on the coast of Thoduwawa at around 5 am today. Coast guard officers had spotted the carcass of a turtle in the Chilaw coast as well. One turtle carcass each had been found on the Uduppuwa coast in Puttalam, the Sinnapadu coast in Mundalama, and the Navaladi coast in Batticaloa, while two carcasses had been spotted on the Kalmunai coast. Meanwhile, two turtles had washed up in Vinayagapuram in Ampara, while the carcass of an turtle that had sustained injuries had been spotted on the Vinayagapuram coast. A turtle had also washed up on the Thambattai coast, while two turtle carcasses and a doplhin had been spotted on the Thirukkovil coast. A part of a dolphin had washed up on the Velanai coast in Jaffna as well. Meanwhile, the US-based Washington Post newspaper has made another revelation on the manifest of the X-Press Pearl vessel. According to the report by the Washington Post, the vessel had been transporting chemicals containing radioactive material. News1st made inquiries on this matter from the director general of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Regulatory Council. "They say that containers of inorganic or inorganic chemicals containing radioactive elements were there. They may contain radioactive elements," Anil Ranjith, the director general said. "Permission must be required to transport even a small amount of these vehicles". Although the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Regulatory Council expressed those views, a vessel carrying such material had entered the Hambantota Port without permission. It is said that officials were unaware of the radioactive material on the vessel until it reached the port. A team of foreign experts tasked with assessomg the environmental damage caused due to the fire on the X-Press Pearl vessel, visited the area of the incident today. They will assess the impact caused to maritime creatures and the ocean due to the fire. Three French nationals, an Italian national, and a Swiss nationals are among the team of experts that also include a coordinator of the United Nations Environment Program. Officials have not provided a clear statement on the damages caused to the environment by the material on the vessel. There is no definite data on the number of plastic pellets on the vessel, and the number of pellets have fallen into the sea. There is no data on the chemicals that had leaked into the ocean from the vessel. Officials are yet to provide definite data on the deaths of turtles, dolphins, and whales due to the incident. Although News1st made multiple attempts to obtain this data, the Marine Environment Protection Authority has refused to divulge the details until they are produced in court. Fishermen of Mutwal who have been burdened by the X-Press Pearl disaster took to the streets today. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy's Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar has said that the Chinese presence in Sri Lanka is a threat to India. According to a report published by the Hindu newspaper, the Vice Chief of the Indian Navy had expressed these views to a local media outlet. Indian Navy's Vice Chief, Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar had said that unmanned predator drones of the US are being used to monitor the region due to current situation concerning China. He had stressed that this would ensure that no one can escape India's watch. According to the Hindu newspaper report, Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar had told local media that these predator drones are capable of flying 2900 kilometres at a height of 50,000 feet. He had added that these drones are equipped with missiles and are capable of destroying enemy warships. Against such a backdrop, footage of an unidentified object hovering over the skies of Seeduwa had been circulating on social media recently.