One person has been confirmed dead and 21 sailors have been rescued after an oil and chemical tanker caught fire near Lamma Island off Hong Kong. The number of missing crewmembers has yet to be determined.
The number of casualties may rise, as police estimate that some 25 sailors were on board. While the exact cause of the incident remains unknown, a number of explosions on the vessel were reported.
“There was an explosion and some people fell into the water from the vessel,” a police spokesman said, as quoted by the South China Morning Post.
Police marine vessels, three fire boats and a helicopter were dispatched to the area to take part in the rescue operation.
Footage from the scene shows the tanker heeling to the starboard, with thick black smoke emitting from one of its burning tanks. Structures across the vessel’s deck appear to be badly damaged.
The ship, ‘Aulac Fortune,’ has reportedly unloaded its cargo of gasoline in China and arrived in Hong Kong almost empty early on Tuesday.
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