Twenty-five people were confirmed dead after a foreign cargo ship caught fire during maintenance at a shipyard in Qingdao, Shandong Province on Thursday.

The fire broke out at around 11:15am when the ship was undergoing maintenance at China State Shipbuilding Corporation Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., according to the municipal fire and rescue bureau.

A total of 42 people were aboard the vessel. Twelve were safely evacuated, and five injured individuals were taken to the hospital, where they are in stable condition.

The blaze was extinguished at around 2:30 pm. As of 7:30 pm, rescuers had found the 25 people reported missing, all with no signs of life.

Emergency management, fire and rescue, police, and medical departments were immediately mobilised to carry out search and rescue operations following the incident.

President Xi Jinping has called ⁠for intensified search and rescue efforts as well as a swift investigation, stressing the need to "urgently search for missing persons... and strictly hold those responsible to account", Xinhua said.

Premier Li Qiang also urged the search and rescue of "trapped" people, and for those injured to receive medical treatment, "and strictly prevent secondary disasters".

Beihai Shipbuilding is a major shipyard operating as a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation. (Xinhua and agencies)
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Last updated: 2026-09-10 HKT 20:35



Edited by Raymond Yeung