With the latest entry of Basil Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan cabinet headed by Gotabaya now has five of his family members.
Ecologists believe their deaths were caused by fire and hazardous leaks from chemical-laden MV X-Press Pearl vessel that burned for 13 days off Colombo's coast.
More than 270,000 people have been affected and about 100,000 buildings lost power, after days of rains triggered floods and landslides.
Figures released by the government showed more than 5,000 people have moved to temporary shelters and nearly 500 houses have been damaged.
With the MV X-Press Pearl's stern now on the sea bed and the bow slowly sinking, environmentalists fear an oil leak could cause even greater degradation to marine life after waves of plastic washed ashore.
MV X-Press Pearl burnt for 13 days, inundating the island’s beaches with plastic pellets, causing environmentalists to fear an oil spill could cause even greater degradation to fragile marine life.
MV X-Press Pearl, carrying hundreds of tonnes of chemicals and plastics, has burned for 13 days within sight of the island's coast and is now starting to sink.
Tonnes of microplastic granules from the ship and its nearly 1,500 containers have inundated Sri Lanka's famed beaches, forcing a fishing ban and sparking fears of ecological devastation.
The MV X-Press Pearl, a container ship sailing with a Singaporean flag and carrying cosmetics and chemicals including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, was anchored off Colombo when a container caught fire.
Tonnes of tiny plastic granules from Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl – smouldering on the horizon for ten days – have overwhelmed beaches, causing an unprecedented pollution crisis in the island nation.
Authorities deploy thousands of security personnel in hazmat suits to clean beaches of plastic waste and other debris from Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl burning since May 20.
Cyclone Yaas is set to turn into a “very severe cyclonic storm” on east coast, likely to come ashore near the border between Odisha and West Bengal states early on Wednesday.
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