Iloilo (AsiaNews) – Residents of Guimaras Island who were forced to flee after a massive oil spill, have started returning home after nearly three months. The spill contaminated coastal villages and poisoned local flora and fauna.

Around 300 persons left evacuation centres in Nueva Valencia and went home, said the mayor of Iloilo, Diosdado Gonzaga.

The disaster happened on 11 August when an oil tanker capsized off Guimaras Island: around 10% of the ship's cargo of two million litres of oil leaked, affecting a 200km coastal stretch.

Gonzaga said that following the disaster, the evacuees found refuge in provisional shelters in the city of Nueva Valencia, where another 600 people remain. The latter will be able to return home only when all areas stricken by the oil spill have been cleared of toxicity.

Shortly after the spill, Manila's health department sent several medical teams to the island to treat 329 people who complained of health problems. Among the symptoms: skin irritations, respiratory problems, stomach aches and nausea.

Guimaras residents are currently seeking to limit the environmental damage caused by the spill. The Filipino Coast Guard has appealed for "for chicken feathers and human hair" to soak it up. The tanker, said to be resting on the seabed, has been described as "an ecological time bomb" by environmentalists.