BEIJING (MNN); The death toll from a fire aboard a foreign-flagged cargo vessel at a port in China’s eastern city of Qingdao has risen to 25, with five people previously reported missing among those killed, Chinese state media reported.
The bulk carrier, which was undergoing maintenance at the Qingdao port, had 42 people aboard when the fire broke out, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Seventeen people were evacuated from the vessel, including five who sustained injuries. By Thursday evening, authorities had located all 25 people who had been unaccounted for, but none was found alive, CCTV reported.
Firefighters managed to bring the flames under control, with the open fire extinguished at around 2:30pm local time, according to state media.
China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the blaze started at approximately 11:15am while the vessel was at the port for maintenance. Authorities did not immediately disclose what caused the fire.
A resident of a nearby residential complex told AFP that he noticed heavy smoke rising from the vessel but did not hear any explosion.
“I saw the smoke from the ship by chance, but there was no visible fire,” the witness said, adding that he neither heard an explosion nor detected any unusual smell.
Footage released by Xinhua showed a large vessel named Ocean Melody docked at a shipyard, with numerous emergency personnel moving across its decks and entering the ship. Fire engines and ambulances were deployed along the quay.
According to the vessel-tracking service MarineTraffic, the 190-metre Ocean Melody is a bulk carrier registered under the Liberian flag and was moored in Qingdao at the time of the incident.
Xi Orders Thorough Investigation
President Xi Jinping called for those responsible to be held accountable and directed authorities to investigate the incident thoroughly, Xinhua reported.
Xi urged relevant departments and local authorities to draw lessons from the accident and carry out comprehensive inspections to identify and eliminate fire hazards.
The incident comes amid a series of serious industrial accidents in China over the past year, raising renewed concerns about workplace safety and enforcement of safety regulations.
In August, an explosion and subsequent fire at a shipyard in eastern Fujian province killed one firefighter and rescue worker and injured 12 others, according to state media.
China also launched a campaign targeting fire risks in high-rise buildings after a major blaze in Hong Kong in November killed 168 people.
In May, an explosion at a fireworks factory in central China claimed 37 lives, making it one of the country’s deadliest industrial accidents in recent years.
Another factory fire in Fujian in July killed at least 28 people, according to Chinese state media.
