Plastic "snow" coats Sri Lankan coast: An environmental disaster

The cargo ship carrying tons of chemicals has been on fire since May 20 and is now sinking off Sri Lanka's west coast in one of the country's worst-ever marine disasters.

A crab roams on a beach polluted with polythene pellets that washed ashore, at Kapungoda, out skirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 31, 2021.

The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid, along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored off the island's west coast when the fire started on May 20.

A Sri Lankan navy soldier collects debris that washed up on the beach, May 27, 2021.

Smoke rises from a fire onboard the MV X-Press Pearl vessel as it sinks while being towed into deep sea off the Colombo Harbor, in Sri Lanka, June 2, 2021.

Members of the Sri Lankan navy remove debris that washed up on a beach from the MV XPress Pearl container ship, May 27, 2021.

Debris that washed up on the beach in Sri Lanka from the burning ship, May 27, 2021.

A protective gear-clad soldier collects debris, May 27, 2021.

A group of Sri Lankan soldiers out to sea towards the burning ship, May 27, 2021.

Sri Lanka Army personnel remove debris on the beach at Moratuwa, near Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 1, 2021.

Members of the Sri Lankan navy pick up debris that washed ashore, May 31, 2021.

A soldier shows the plastic pallets littering the coast of Sri Lanka, May 28, 2021.

A crab roams on a beach polluted with polythene pellets that washed ashore, May 31, 2021.

Sri Lankan navy members work on the beach to remove debris that washed ashore, May 27, 2021.

A member of the Sri Lankan navy cleans debris from the beach, May 27, 2021.

Members of the Sri Lankan navy attempt to evade a wave coming their way as more debris washes ashore, May 27, 2021.