Fire at Qingdao Shipyard Kills Several; Xi Orders Rescue and Accountability

A fire broke out aboard a foreign cargo vessel undergoing repairs at a state-owned shipyard in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao on Thursday, causing major casualties, state media reported.

The blaze started at around 11:15 a.m. at the Qingdao Beihai shipyard, according to Xinhua, which did not provide a death toll or say how many people were unaccounted for.

President Xi Jinping called for stepped-up search and rescue operations, a prompt investigation into the incident and measures to fix accountability, Xinhua said.

The shipyard is controlled by the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), one of the largest shipbuilders in the world. CSSC describes itself as China's principal naval shipbuilder and the country's biggest designer and builder of ships and offshore equipment.

A 2022 recruitment notice posted on the website of the CSSC-owned Qingdao unit said the yard had an annual shipbuilding capacity of 3 million deadweight tons and was able to repair 212 vessels a year.