At least 20 people have died after a fire broke out on a foreign-flagged cargo ship being repaired at a shipyard in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao, Chinese state media said.The fire broke out around 11:15 local time on Thursday at the Beihai Shipbuilding Co. shipyard. in Qingdao, Shandong province, Xinhua reported. Following the incident, Chinese authorities launched an urgent search and rescue operation.“A foreign cargo ship of Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in Qingdao, Shandong Province caught fire while entering the port for maintenance, causing numerous casualties,” Xinhua News Agency reported.The agency initially did not provide details about the cause of the fire or the circumstances surrounding the deaths. It was also feared that some people were trapped or missing on board.Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an urgent search for missing people and for bringing those responsible to justice. Xinhua said he “stressed the need to urgently search for missing persons… and strictly hold the perpetrators accountable.”Premier Li Qiang called for the rescue of the “trapped” people and urged authorities to provide medical care to the wounded. He also called on officials to “strictly prevent secondary disasters.”Xinhua published a photo showing a large ship moored at the shipyard with several fire engines nearby. The vessel turned out to be the Ocean Melody, a 190-meter Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, according to MarineTraffic data, which showed it moored in Qingdao.
Xi Jinping orders safety review after fire
Xi Jinping also said that “all regions and relevant departments should learn deep lessons from this incident and thoroughly investigate and eliminate all types of fire hazards.”The incident comes amid a series of major industrial accidents in China in recent months, raising new concerns about workplace safety.In August, an explosion and subsequent fire at a shipyard in Fujian province killed one fire and rescue worker and injured 12 others, state media reported.Last November, China launched a campaign to combat fire hazards in high-rise buildings after a massive fire engulfed several apartment buildings in Hong Kong, killing 168 people.An explosion at a fireworks factory in central China in May killed 37 people, and in July a fire at a shoe factory in the eastern province of Fujian killed at least 28 people.