IBNS-CMEDIA: At least 25 people were killed after a foreign cargo ship caught fire at a shipyard in China‘s Shandong Province, media reports said.
All 25 deceased people were initially reported missing after the blaze broke out.
The fire erupted at around 11:15 a.m. while the vessel was undergoing maintenance at China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., according to the municipal fire and rescue bureau, as quoted by Xinhua.
A total of 42 people were on board when the fire broke out. Twelve of them were safely evacuated from the vessel, while five others were taken to a hospital for treatment. Their condition was reported to be stable.
The fire was later brought under control.
A photograph released by China‘s state-run Xinhua news agency appeared to show the vessel as the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Ocean Melody, the South China Morning Post reported.
China State Shipbuilding Corporation operates Qingdao Beihai, one of China’s major shipyards, which specialises in commercial shipbuilding, ship repair and offshore engineering.
The incident comes less than a month after a fatal shipyard blaze and subsequent explosion at a vessel at the Century Huahai shipyard in Fujian Province killed a firefighter on August 13.
