Fire breaks out at a shipyard in Qingdao, China, killing at least 20 people

Chinese state media reported that a fire broke out on a cargo ship at a shipyard in Qingdao, Shandong Province, killing at least 20 people so far.

The People's Daily of the Communist Party of China reported that at 11:15 Beijing time (03:15 GMT) on Thursday (September 10), a fire broke out on a foreign cargo ship during maintenance at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. of China State Shipbuilding Corporation.

There were 42 people on board the ship at the time of the incident, and search and rescue personnel rescued 20 people, all of whom had no vital signs; five people were injured and sent to the hospital with stable vital signs; 12 people were evacuated safely.

State media reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang issued disaster relief instructions respectively. Xi Jinping said that we must step up the search and rescue of missing people, properly handle the aftermath and comfort work, find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible, and strictly investigate the responsibility in accordance with the law.

According to reports, Shandong Province and Qingdao City immediately activated the emergency response mechanism and organized emergency response, fire rescue, public security, health, industry and information technology and other departments to carry out rescue work.