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New investigations have found that a huge oil spill threatening environmentally sensitive areas along the southern coast of the United States is getting worse.
Efforts are under way to stem the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank last week off the coast of Louisiana.
The oil spill is now thought to be five times worse than originally estimated - with some 5,000 barrels of oil leaking from the fractured underwater pipe every day.
Weather forecasters have warned that changing winds could drive the oil slick ashore by Friday night.
Forty-nine vessels - oil skimmers, tugboats, barges and special recovery boats - are working to combat the spill.
A dispersant plane passes over the slick, which covers about 28,600 square miles (74,070 sq km), according to the US Coast Guard.
Officials have flown over the area assessing damage. The coast guard has warned that if containment efforts do not work soon this could be "one of the most significant oil spills in US history".
Robotic submersibles are being deployed by surface vessels to try to stop the leak, but the coast guard has said this could take months.
Officials have been conducting 'controlled burns' - setting fire to parts of the slick - as other methods fail.
Workers are fighting to prevent the leak from reaching environmentally sensitive marshlands on the Louisiana coast.
It is also feared the growing slick could affect the fisheries industry in an area which accounts for a substantial proportion of US seafood production.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.