X-PRESS PEARL: 02 Indian crew members admitted to Hospital

COLOMBO (News 1st): Two Indian crew members of the distressed MV "X-PRESS PEARL" have been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital. The two Indian nationals who had sustained injuries were admitted this morning (May 25), Pushpa Ramyani De Soysa, the Chief Nurse of the Colombo National Hospital told News 1st on Tuesday (May 25). An explosion was reported from inside the MV X-PRESS PEARL on Tuesday morning (May 25), and all 25 crew members were evacuated safely out of the vessel, Captain Indika de Silva, the Navy Spokesperson told News 1st. The distressed container ship was manned by a crew of 25, who are Philippine, Chinese, Indian, and Russian nationals. Moreover, Sri Lankan authorities have decided to further move the MV "X-PRESS PEARL" 50 nautical miles away from the Colombo Harbour into deep seas in order to prevent marine environment destruction. Sri Lanka Air Force deployed Bell 212 to drop Dry Powder onto the vessel after an explosion was reported early Tuesday (25) morning. 03 Tugs from the SLPA were employed to reduce the heat in the surrounding area of containers. ‍Further, Sri Lanka Naval Ship Sindurala and a Fast Attack Craft were deployed to assist the ongoing firefighting efforts. In the meantime, several freight containers onboard the distressed MV "X-PRESS PEARL" have fallen to the Sri Lankan waters, the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) said. "According to the information that we received around 6:30 AM today (May 25), there are EIGHT (08) freight containers that had fallen into the sea waters. Except for one container, the rest had submerged," Dharshani Lahandapura, the Chairperson of the Marine Environment Protection Authority told News 1st on Tuesday (May 25). Thereby, the MEPA Chairperson STRONGLY ADVISED that people REFRAIN from visiting the nearby sea areas. The vessel which is registered under the flag of Singapore had carried 1486 containers with 25 tonnes of Nitric Acid, several other chemicals, and cosmetics; it had departed from the port of Hazira on India on 15th May 2021.