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

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.

The fire was put out more than three hours after it started.

A witness told AFP that thick smoke was rising from the ship.

Photos released by state media showed the ship as the Ocean Melody, a 190-meter-long cargo ship flying the Liberian flag. According to the ship tracking website MarineTraffic, the ship arrived in Qingdao on August 31.