Fire engulfs cargo ship at Chinese port, killing 25 and injuring 5

A fire that broke out on a foreign-flagged cargo ship undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in the port of Qingdao, in eastern China, killed 25 people, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

According to preliminary figures published by Xinhua, 42 people were on board the vessel. Twelve of them were brought out safely, while five injured were taken to hospital. The initial report said 20 people had been found dead and five others were missing, but a later update raised the death toll to 25.

The flames broke out during the morning hours at the Beihai Shipyard in Qingdao, while repair and inspection work was being carried out on the vessel. Xinhua reported that the fire had been brought under control by early afternoon.

The ship, identified as the Ocean Melody, appeared in a photograph published by Xinhua. It is a 20-year-old vessel that sails under the flag of Liberia, is operated by Yuyangkunpeng Shanghai Shp Mgm and is owned by Huili Shipping Co Ltd.

The Ocean Melody arrived at the Qingdao shipyard on August 31 and had been there since then. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “urgent searches for the missing, a proper response to the incident and a rapid investigation into the cause,” according to the state news agency. The announcement did not specify the ship’s flag.