25 Killed in fire on foreign-flagged ship at Chinese port
Drone footage shows ships and containers at the port of Qingdao in China's Shandong province – Reuters.
A fire broke out on a foreign-flagged cargo ship at a port in China, killing at least 25 people, state media reported.
State broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday that 12 of the 42 people aboard the ship were safely evacuated. Five injured people were admitted to hospital and were in stable condition.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the ship had been anchored for repairs at Beihai Shipbuilding Company in Qingdao, a major port city on China’s northeastern coast. The fire broke out at 11:15 a.m. local time.
It was not immediately clear how the fire started or whether it had been brought under control.
A photograph published by Xinhua identified the ship as the “Ocean Melody.” According to data from the public ship-tracking website VesselFinder, the vessel is registered under the Liberian flag.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered a swift search and rescue operation.
Xinhua reported that he “stressed the need to quickly search for missing people and ordered strict action against those responsible” for the incident.
Premier Li Qiang ordered authorities to search for and rescue those “trapped” aboard the vessel and ensure that the injured received medical treatment.
He also instructed the relevant authorities to “strictly prevent secondary disasters.”
Xi said, “All regions and relevant departments must draw profound lessons from this incident and conduct comprehensive investigations and corrective measures to identify and eliminate all kinds of fire hazards.”
Source: Al Jazeera
