Peru’s oil spill caused by Tonga waves is 'ecological disaster'

The foreign ministry said that the oil spill had harmed animal and plant life in protected zones over a combined area of some 18,000 square kilometers (6,950 square miles) around islands and fishing regions.

The spill from a tanker that was unloading crude at Spanish oil company Repsol's La Pampilla refinery was blamed on unusually large waves after the massive undersea volcano explosion in Tonga some 10,000 km (6,213 miles) away triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean.

The ministry called on Repsol to pay for the incident.

"This is the worst ecological disaster that has occurred around Lima in recent times and has seriously damaged hundreds of fishermen's families. Repsol must immediately compensate for the damage," the ministry said on Twitter.