Baltic fears over toxic cargo accident

8 Feb, 2010 07:11 / Updated 14 years ago

A container of toxic materials fell into the Baltic Sea from a cargo ship on Saturday. A Finnish shipment was being transported from the Netherlands to St. Petersburg.

The captain said the three containers stacked on top of each other slipped off the vessel when the bottom one collapsed under the weight. Only one is thought to be dangerous.

About five tons of flammable substances and fifteen tons of hazardous materials were in the container, according to “Maritime Bulletin”.

The loss was reportedly discovered by the crew about 20 minutes after the accident.

Patrol planes from Finland and the Swedish military are searching for the containers.