Twenty killed after fire breaks out on cargo ship in Qingdao

Twenty people have been confirmed dead after a fire broke out aboard a foreign cargo ship undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Thursday, China Central Television reported.

The fire broke out at around 11:15 am at China State Shipbuilding Corporation Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co Ltd, when 42 people were aboard the vessel.

Twelve people were evacuated safely, while five others were injured and taken to hospital. Their vital signs were stable, according to the report. The remaining 25 people were initially unaccounted for.

The flames were extinguished at around 2:30 pm.

As of 5:30 pm, rescuers had found 20 of the missing people, all of whom showed no signs of life, the report said.

Following the incident, Shandong province and Qingdao city immediately activated emergency response mechanisms and organized emergency management, fire and rescue, public security, health and industrial and information technology departments to carry out rescue operations.

Leading officials of the Communist Party of China Shandong Provincial Committee and provincial government have gone to the scene to oversee the response to the incident.