THE death toll from a fire that erupted on a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked in a Chinese port has risen to 25, including five people who had been listed as missing, state media said.
The bulk carrier, moored in the eastern shipping hub of Qingdao, had 42 people on board when the fire broke out yesterday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Seventeen of those were evacuated, including five who were injured. But by yesterday evening “all 25 missing persons had been found, none showing signs of life,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.
It said “the open flames were extinguished” by about 2.30pm (0630 GMT). State news agency Xinhua earlier said that the fire broke out at around 11.15am.
“A foreign cargo ship of Beihai Shipbuilding Co, Ltd in Qingdao, Shandong province, caught fire during its port call for maintenance, causing heavy casualties,” Xinhua said, without specifying the cause of the fire.
President Xi Jinping “stressed the need to... strictly hold those responsible to account”, Xinhua said.
A witness from a neighbouring residential area said he saw thick smoke coming from the ship, but did not hear an explosion.
Xinhua shared a photo of the scene showing a large ship called the Ocean Melody docked at a yard, with several fire trucks stationed in front of it.
The Ocean Melody is a 190m-long bulk carrier sailing under the Liberian flag, according to vessel tracking website MarineTraffic, which located the ship as moored in Qingdao.
Qingdao is the hometown and namesake of Tsingtao beer and a major international maritime hub, connected to more than 700 ports in over 180 countries and regions, according to state media.
The Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding yard operates as a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
Xi said “all regions and relevant departments must draw profound lessons from this incident, thoroughly investigate and rectify all types of fire hazards”. — Agencies
