Oil is now leaking freely from a tanker on Russia's river Volga, posing a serious threat to the region's fragile environment. A fire broke out on the vessel on Saturday after an explosion which killed one crew member. The blaze is now coming under control, according to fire-fighters dealing with it near the town of Sizran. But 700 tonnes of light crude oil has seeped into the Volga. The tanker was carrying around 2,000 tonnes. Emergency crews have been monitoring the fire and the oil leak, setting up booms on the water to limit the spread of the slick. But Greenpeace activists in Moscow said the spill would definitely harm the plant, fish and animal life on the Volga. They said the air in the region would also be polluted for weeks by the plumes of acrid smoke from the fire. **PHOTO CAPTION*** An oil tanker burns close to the bank of the Volga river, near the town of Sizran, some 700kms east of Moscow, August 31, 2003. (REUTERS/Alexei Kavkazyev)