Tanker and cargo ship collision

[Anchor]

A tanker loaded with oil collided with a cargo ship transporting toxic chemicals in British waters.

As a result of the accident, one crew member of the cargo ship is missing, and there are concerns about environmental pollution due to the oil spill from the tanker.

This is a report from correspondent Ahn Da-young.

[Report]

Two vessels are engulfed in bright red flames.

The sea is covered in black smoke.

Yesterday morning local time, a Portuguese cargo ship in operation crashed into a tanker that was docked with 18,000 tons of U.S. military aviation fuel in the North Sea, off the northeast coast of England.

The collision caused a strong explosion and fire.

The crew members of the tanker immediately escaped, and all 37 were rescued, but one crew member of the cargo ship is missing.

The accident occurred in a maritime route connecting ports in northeastern England and the Netherlands, an area with frequent ship traffic.

The thick fog at the time is suspected to be one of the causes of the accident.

[Martin Boyers/Grimsby Port Representative: "All these vessels, they have positioning, and they've got every bit of kit that's known to man about how to navigate, and radars and everything. So it's a very unusual and tragic accident. No doubt about it"]

Due to the impact of the accident, oil from the tanker has leaked, raising concerns about environmental pollution.

[Simon Boksal/Oceanographer: "I think it's highly unlikely that it's going to explode when it hits the coast. But it will cause pollution incidents along the coast."]

The cargo ship was carrying sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical, but it has not been confirmed whether there has been a leak.

Experts have expressed strong concerns that if the toxic substances from the cargo ship leak and come into contact with water, a large amount of toxic gas could be generated.

This is Ahn Da-young reporting for KBS News from Paris.