Prestige oil threatens French coast

FRANCE'S Atlantic coast could be swamped with oil from the sunken tanker Prestige within days after high winds tore up an oil slick out at sea, authorities said yesterday.

"An oil slick that drifted to La Rochelle is being broken into millions of small pellets by winds and currents," said the prefect of the southwestern Aquitaine region, Christain Fremont.

"If these winds continue to blow this pollution will arrive on a vast scale very soon, perhaps even this weekend."