'Significant casualties' after fire erupts on cargo ship in Qingdao, eastern China

'Significant casualties' after fire on cargo ship in eastern China

A fire has broken out on a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked at an eastern Chinese port, causing significant casualties, according to state media.

President Xi Jinping called for urgent search and rescue efforts and a swift investigation.

Premier Li Qiang called for "trapped" people to be rescued and stressed the need to "prevent secondary disasters".

The vessel was undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in the city of Qingdao when the blaze occurred at 11:15 local time (03:15 GMT), state news agency Xinhua said.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.