Corsica closes beaches: “There is a lot of anger” | Abroad

Off Corsica, two oil slicks float together about 35 kilometers long. The oil was discovered on Friday by the French navy. That same day, all beaches on the east coast were closed. The photos show how the shocked bathers are dismissed by gendarmes.

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The oil spill seen from the sky.

Ⓒ AFP

“We fear that part of the pollution is reaching the Corsican coast today,” maritime expert Christine Ribbe told French news agency AFP on Saturday. It now appears that the oil slick is drifting offshore; good news for the beach, but still potentially very damaging to Mediterranean marine life. In addition, the direction of flow can also be reversed.

Angry ministers

On Saturday, two large warships with cleaning equipment set out to sea. Ministers Annick Girardin and Barbara Pompili, responsible respectively for overseas and the environment, carried out inspections by helicopter and thanked the deployed firefighters. . About eighty people are now busy cleaning up.

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The two ministers thank the firefighters.

Ⓒ AFP

The mayor of Ghisonaccia, where the closed beaches fall, hopes that they can soon reopen. “There is a lot of anger,” he said, particularly concerned about tourism. However, Minister Girardin is furious at the disaster itself. “We are determined to find the perpetrators of this oil spill. They are criminals and they should be treated that way.

Minister Barbara Pompili inspects the area from the air.

Ⓒ AFP

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