THE Belgian government is to face pressure over a shipping collision that killed three North-East men.
John Gray and Robert Bold, both 53 and from Sunderland, and Adrian Hirst, 25, of Jarrow, Tyneside, were among nine men who died on the tanker British Trent.
It burst into flames after colliding in thick fog with bulk carrier Western Winner, off Ostend, in 1993.
The Korean captain of the Panamanian-registered Western Winner disappeared while facing prosecution for manslaughter, and the Belgian authorities have been criticised for making "half-hearted" efforts to track him down.
The vice-president of the European Commission, Loyola de Palacio, has taken up the case and is asking Belgium for answers about the "unsatisfactory situation".
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