Massive oil slick spreads

A MASSIVE oil spill caused by leakage from a power plant inside one of Syria’s oil refineries is spreading along the coast of the Mediterranean country, Syria’s state news agency said.

SANA said the spill reached the coastal town of Jableh, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the refinery in the town of Baniyas, adding that Syria’s environment department and the municipality of the coastal province of Latakia have placed all concerned departments on alert.

It said work is under way to clean the coast in the rocky areas.

A day earlier, Syria’s government said that maintenance teams at Baniyas Thermal Station had brought a fuel leakage from one of the tanks under control.

Satellite images from Planet Labs on Wednesday showed what appeared to be a massive oil spill stretching out over 25.5 square kilometres.