‘Heavy casualties’ after foreign cargo ship catches fire in China’s Qingdao
A foreign cargo ship caught fire on Thursday morning while docked for repairs in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, causing heavy casualties, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The report did not mention the number of killed or injured. President Xi Jinping has given orders to find those missing in the fire. More to follow...
Beijing — A cargo ship docked for repairs in a Chinese port caught fire, resulting in at least 20 deaths and five people missing, according to Chinese state media reporting on Thursday. The vessel, named Ocean Melody, was undergoing maintenance at the Beihai Shipbuilding Co. in the port of Qingdao, a major shipping hub situated along China's northeastern coastline.
Identified by the tracking website VesselFinder as a Liberian-flagged ship, the Ocean Melody carried a total of 42 individuals. Of these, 12 were successfully evacuated, while 12 sustained injuries and were transported to the hospital, where their condition remained stable.
The fire ignited around 11 a.m. on Thursday and was successfully brought under control by 2:30 p.m. local time. Visuals shared on social media depicted crew members on board the ship striving to extinguish the flames. In response to the incident, China's President Xi Jinping issued "important instructions" emphasizing the urgency of rescue operations for the missing individuals aboard the ship.
Premier Li Qiang also directed efforts towards rescuing those trapped within the vessel. Xi further urged the implementation of comprehensive preventive measures to avert similar occurrences in the future.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Major casualties reported after an international cargo ship docked in eastern China caught fire winnipegfreepress.com
- China races to find survivors after Qingdao shipyard fire turns deadly malaymail.com
- China: Cargo ship fire kills at least 20 dw.com
- At least 20 dead, 5 missing after cargo ship catches fire in China's port, state media says koreatimes.co.kr
- ‘Heavy casualties’ after foreign cargo ship catches fire in China’s Qingdao scmp.com
- At least 20 people dead in commercial ship fire in China cbc.ca
- At least 20 people killed after fire breaks out on cargo ship in China port news.sky.com
- 'Heavy casualties' reported after international cargo ship docked in China catches fire euronews.com
