A fire tore through a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked at a shipyard in Qingdao, in eastern China, on Thursday morning, leaving what state media described as “significant casualties.”
According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the fire broke out around 11:15 a.m. local time (3:15 a.m. GMT) while the vessel was undergoing maintenance work at the port facility. Qingdao is a major industrial and shipping hub on China’s eastern coast, home to one of the country’s busiest container ports.
President Xi Jinping responded quickly to the incident, ordering rescue teams to move urgently to search for survivors and calling for a thorough investigation into how the fire started. Premier Li Qiang echoed that urgency, instructing crews to free anyone still trapped inside the ship while also taking precautions to prevent the situation from spiraling into further disasters, such as explosions or the fire spreading to nearby vessels or infrastructure.
Authorities have not yet released details on the exact number of casualties, the ship’s flag state, or its cargo. Chinese officials are expected to provide updates as emergency crews continue working at the site.
You can read the full BBC report for the latest updates as this story develops.
Source: 'Significant casualties' after fire on cargo ship in eastern China (feeds.bbci.co.uk). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Vancouver 125, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).