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The authorities are assessing the volume of oil products that got into the river and working to prevent water intake from the river by downstream settlements.
A state of emergency has been declared in Kirensky District of Russia's Irkutsk region, where an oil spill occurred after two tankers collided on the Lena River on Monday evening, regional governor Igor Kobzev announced on Tuesday via social media.
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One of the tankers, Erofey Khabarov, was carrying 832 tons of gasoline and sustained damage to one of its tanks, which held 138 tons of fuel.
The crew managed to pump the remaining gasoline into another tank and install a fence boom around the vessel to contain the spill.
The second tanker, TR-901, was under repair and did not carry any cargo. The authorities were assessing the volume of oil products that got into the river and working to prevent water intake from the river by downstream settlements.
In the #Kirensky district of the #Irkutsk region, a state of emergency was introduced after the collision of two tankers on the Lena River.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 13, 2023
As a result of the accident, one of the ships was damaged capacity, which transported 138 tons of gasoline. pic.twitter.com/14KVi8HIfH
Currently, the situation is complicated by the fact that the river is navigable and there are 11 settlements in the area that may be affected by the spill.
The East Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office said that a commission has been appointed to investigate the causes of the accident and evaluate the environmental damage.
The owners of the vessels are being questioned and may face administrative or criminal charges.
'Worst ever' Arctic oil spill has Russia struggling to clean up pic.twitter.com/iSjcDIMMzS
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) June 12, 2020
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