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S Korea arrests two over oil spill
Arrests come as 14 sailors go missing after freighter capsizes off the coast.
Last Modified: 25 Dec 2007 07:07 GMT
Thousands of workers are continuing to clean  up the country's worst-ever oil spill [Reuters]

Two South Korean sea captains have been arrested over the country's worst-ever oil spill.
 
More than 10,000 tonnes of oil leaked from a supertanker after it was hit by a wayward barge on December 7.
 
Captains from the barge and the tug-boat responsible for guiding it were charged on Tuesday with criminal negligence, a coast guard official said.
Around 23,550 people, made up of coast guard officers, soldiers, residents and volunteers, were still working, along with 210 ships and six helicopters to clean up the spill.
 
Meanwhile, 14 sailors are feared dead after a freighter capsized off the South Korean coast.
Disappearing carrier
 
The chemical carrier disappeared in rough seas off the port city of Yeosu on Tuesday morning, the coast guard said.
 
The Eastern Bright sank after sending an emergency distress call at around 4:20am (19:20 GMT Monday).
 
The coast guard rescued one sailor, who was found unconscious.
 
Nine ships and one helicopter had been mobilised to search for other survivors. Waves were three to four metres high.
 
The freighter left Yeosu on Monday night and was bound for Taiwan, carrying 2,000 tonnes of nitric acid for a South Korea-based logistics company.
 
However, a coast guard officer told Yonhap news agency: "There seems to be no fear of water pollution around the coast as nitric acid is highly volatile."
Source:
Agencies
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