The Peruvian government has declared a 90-day environmental emergency in the coastal area of Lima which has been affected by a recent oil spill, the Ministry of the Environment said on Saturday.

The government has called it one of the "most important ecological disasters" on the coast in recent years.

The resolution was approved by Minister of the Environment Ruben Ramirez, who heads the Environmental Crisis Committee that is trying to mitigate the effects of the oil spill.

The oil spill occurred on January 15 when an oil tanker was unloading at one of the terminals of La Pampilla Refinery, operated by Repsol, in the province of Callao, neighboring Lima.