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SKOREA-FIRE-VESSEL-PETROLEUM-EMERGENCY LEAD
Huge tanker blast sparks fire injuring 18 in South Korea
SEOUL, Sept 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A huge blast on an oil tanker in a South
Korean port Saturday sparked a raging fire that spread to a nearby vessel,
leaving 18 people injured, authorities said.
A ball of fire shot up high above the ship and thick black smoke billowed
into the air, dramatic images showed. Firefighters struggled to contain the
blaze and prevent it spreading, shooting streams of water up onto the deck
from beside the vessel in the southeast port of Ulsan.
All 25 of those on board the Cayman Islands-flagged tanker and the 21
people on the second ship have been rescued, according to the Coast Guard.
Twelve sailors and six rescue workers were injured, Yonhap news agency
said, quoting local authorities. Nine of the injured were South Korean.
The Russian vice-consul in Busan said the tanker crew comprised 10
Russians, including the captain, and none had been seriously injured.
“Some received medical help on the spot, but no Russian has been
hospitalised,” said Evgeny Evdokimov, quoted by the Russian news agency Tass.
“There were no repairs or loading operations underway on the ship at the
time of the explosion. It is obviously something in the cargo that caused the
explosion and the fire,” he said.
The Coast Guard said the cause of the blast was being investigated.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1743 hrs