Ship fire at Qingdao shipyard: 20 dead
A tragic fire occurred at the Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding yard during renovation work; Chinese authorities announce tighter security controls.
Quick Look
- A fire broke out on a ship during renovation at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding in China.
- Of the 42 people on board, 12 were evacuated, 5 were injured and 20 people died.
- Authorities, including Xi Jinping and Li Qiang, ordered an investigation and tighter security controls.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Beihai shipyard in Qingdao belongs to the state giant China State Shipbuilding Corporation and carries out international orders.
"There were a total of 42 people on board, 12 of whom were safely evacuated; five people were injured and taken to hospital, their vital signs are stable," the fire brigade said. Initially, the services considered 25 people missing.
"By 5:30 p.m. (local time, i.e. 11:30 a.m. in Poland - PAP), 20 missing people had been found, none of these people showed any signs of life," it said.
The fire on board the unit broke out around 11:15 local time (5:15 in Poland), when the ship was undergoing scheduled repairs at the Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding facility in Qingdao, Shandong Province. The fire was extinguished after more than three hours. A special working group of the Ministry of Crisis Management was sent to the scene of the incident.
The causes of the incident are unknown. The media also did not reveal the flag of the unit.
The authorities announce inspections
Conclusions should be drawn, detailed inspections should be carried out to eliminate all fire threats, diligently implemented preventive measures and resolutely prevented the most serious accidents, said Chinese leader Xi Jinping, quoted by the agency. He demanded that the search for victims be intensified, that the victims' families be provided with appropriate care and that those responsible for the negligence be held accountable.
In turn, Prime Minister Li Qiang ordered the services "to make every effort to rescue those trapped and provide full medical care to the injured, as well as reduce the risk of secondary disasters." He also ordered the State Commission for Occupational Safety to immediately tighten supervision over industrial facilities throughout the country.
The immediate reaction of party dignitaries after the accident on a foreign-flagged vessel signals increased vigilance of the authorities in state-owned industrial facilities, and the announced health and safety inspections may affect the pace of production and renovation works in Chinese ports in the coming weeks.
Another fire recently
The Beihai shipyard in Qingdao, owned by the state giant China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), is a key element of China's maritime infrastructure and carries out production and repair orders for international shipping.
This is another serious incident in recent years in the Chinese shipbuilding industry, where a dynamic increase in orders and time pressure often lead to negligence in terms of safety.
Open Questions
- What flag did the unit fly under?
- What was the direct cause of the fire?
