Time bomb off Coast of Death

AN environmental time bomb was ticking in the Atlantic last night after the sinking of the stricken Prestige oil tanker 500 miles from Mizen Head.

More than 10,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil have leaked from the broken hull of the tanker and efforts of salvage crews to prevent the remaining 70,000 tonnes escaping now appear hopeless.

Thousands of marine creatures have perished on a blackened eight-mile stretch of Spain’s Coast of Death and concerns now centre on where else the oil will come ashore.