As many as 12 firemen and six ship crew members were injured early Tuesday in a fire that broke out on a cargo ship carrying metal wastes and paper.

The condition of two firemen was stated to be serious. Their faces were covered with masks when they were taken to hospital.

The ship was anchored at the Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter.

"Some fell into the sea following the explosion," said Lai Man-hin, chief fire officer of Fire Services Department. According to Lai, most people suffered 2 to 8 percent burns in faces and hands.

The fire broke out around 1 am Tuesday following an explosion in one of the cargoes. In half an hour, it turned into a three-alarm fire. The firemen used three jets to put out the blaze.

It was under control until another explosion occurred at 6:45 am, injuring more firefighters. Fire boats nearby soon came in and helped put out the fire.

With smoke billowing the whole afternoon, the spot was suffocating. However, the firemen continued with their job in a grim struggle to control the blaze.

The 50-meter cargo vessel "Yue Hai 638" arrived in Hong Kong on Monday from Guangzhou and stopped at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals to upload nine cargoes before it was anchored at the Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter.

It was reported that the nine cargoes contained imported metal wastes and paper. However, there was not much damage to the mainland-bound ship.

John Ho Wing-shing, who teaches biochemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said inflammable materials like chemicals in the cargo could cause the explosion. The blaze in the metal waste cargo resulted in another explosion.

The Hong Kong Marine Department has begun a probe.

China Daily

(HK Edition 09/22/2010 page1)