S.KOREA IN OIL RALLY SUICIDE BID!

A South Korean fish-seller has attempted to commit suicide during a rally protesting at the country's worst-ever oil spill. Ji Chang-hwan drank poison before dousing himself with inflammable liquid and setting himself alight. Doctors treating Mr Ji say he is critically ill and may not survive.

Thousands had gathered in Taean county, on the country's west coast, to demand more official compensation for communities hit by last month's spill. Two fish farmers have already committed suicide over the issue. Mr Ji was rushed to Soonchunhyang University Hospital after his suicide bid. Hospital spokesman Park Jae-ho told the Associated Press Mr Ji had swallowed a fatal dose of herbicide and was unlikely to survive.

The spill happened when a tug snapped its towing cable, causing the barge it was pulling to drift and collide with a super tanker in early December. The resulting slick of some 10,500 tonnes of crude oil devastated beaches and marine farms on South Korea's west coast. The spill was the largest in South Korea's history. Tens of thousands of police, troops and volunteers staged a huge clean-up of the shoreline but environmentalists say the damage could last for years.

Taean residents are calling on the companies involved in the spill to pay full compensation and take "unlimited responsibility" for the damage. The oil slick, the largest in South Korea's history, is about a third of the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, considered the costliest on record. South Korea's previously largest spill happened in 1995, when 5,000 tons of oil washed onto the southern coast.

Police are expected to announce the results of their investigation into the accident next week.
BBC NEWS REPORT.