Another major disaster blamed on safety complacency has struck China, this time at a shipyard in Qingdao, Shandong Province. A fire broke out on a cargo ship undergoing repairs, killing 25 people. The incident underscores how serious accidents continue to occur across China regardless of place or time.

		0
A news photo shows the scene of a major disaster in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on Sept. 10, where 25 people were killed. / The Beijing News

According to a Sept. 10 report by China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, a fire broke out at around 11:15 a.m. that day aboard a foreign-flagged cargo ship undergoing repairs at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp.

A total of 42 people were aboard the vessel at the time of the accident. Twelve managed to evacuate safely, while five people were injured and taken to hospital.

The remaining 25 people were reported missing. Rescue authorities immediately launched a search and had found 20 of them by 5:30 p.m., but all were confirmed dead. Search operations continued, and the remaining five missing people were found at around 7:24 p.m. They were also confirmed dead.

The five injured people are currently receiving treatment at a hospital and are not believed to be in life-threatening condition.

Chinese authorities said only that the vessel was a foreign-flagged cargo ship and did not disclose its nationality. The Associated Press, however, cited ship-tracking website VesselFinder as saying the vessel was registered in Liberia.

The fire was fully extinguished at around 2:30 p.m., roughly three hours after it broke out. Although the blaze did not last exceptionally long, the scale of the casualties was far greater than initially expected.

Local authorities activated an emergency response system immediately after the accident, mobilizing emergency management, fire, public security and health authorities for rescue, search and recovery operations.

Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China, ordered authorities to accelerate the search for the missing, provide treatment for the injured, support bereaved families and make every effort to handle the aftermath.

Xi also called for the cause of the accident to be identified as quickly as possible and for those responsible to be held strictly accountable in accordance with the law. The fact that the vessel was foreign-flagged appears to have prompted particularly close attention from the authorities.

Premier Li Qiang likewise ordered all-out efforts in rescue operations, treatment of the injured and accident recovery, while stressing the need to thoroughly prevent secondary damage.

The involvement of both China’s top Party and government leaders showed the seriousness with which the authorities approached the incident. Even so, their response once again came only after the disaster had already occurred.

                                                                                                          Hong Soon-do