This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

High winds have beached a cargo ship on France's jagged Atlantic coast and some of the 220 tonnes of fuel on board are leaking and threatening a local beach.

The 19-member crew of the TK Bremen was evacuated by helicopter early Friday as the vessel ran aground off Erdeven beach in southern Brittany, on the north-west coat of France.

The prefecture of the Morbihan region said in a statement a kilometre-long (0.6 mile) strip of fuel was headed towards the beach. A giant nature preserve of dunes and wildlife runs through Erdevan, one of many small coastal towns that attracts tourists for its natural beauty.

The local government warned people to stay indoors as rescuers pumped fuel from the hold of the Maltese flagged ship in a bid to empty it.

The French electric company said Friday some 320,000 homes were without electricity as winds of up to 81 miles per hour (130km/h) blew across France, triggering alerts in numerous regions. Most of the outages were in the country's west, but some areas in the east and south-east were hit as the storm moved across France.