Ecuador was fighting to contain the environmental impact of a fuel spill in the Galapagos Islands after a flatboat carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel sank.

The Orca barge tipped over after a crane collapsed while it was loading a container onto it.

Ecuador's Integrated Security Service added, "the barge crew jumped into the sea to safeguard their lives".

The Unesco World Heritage Site is home to one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet and the Galapagos National Park said military personnel and environmentalists were "putting up containment barriers and absorbent cloths to reduce the environmental risk".