A search and rescue operation came to a close Thursday for a cargo ship fire at a shipyard in Qingdao City of east China's Shandong Province, after all the 25 individuals initially reported to be missing were located and confirmed dead.
The fire broke out at around 11:15 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 ship. 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 14:30.
Emergency management, fire and rescue, police, and medical departments were immediately mobilized to carry out search and rescue operations following the accident.
"Inside the cabin, it was extremely hot, and very slippery because the hot steam had melted all the old and accumulated grease and grime," said Hao Xiang, a firefighter.
In the burn unit of Qingdao West Coast New Area Central Hospital, two injured patients are receiving treatment. They sustained minor burns to the face and upper limbs and are in stable condition, according to an attending doctor.
"Upon admission of the patients injured in the accident, we immediately conducted a comprehensive checkup on them and identified their injury to be a mild burn. We provided them with burn dressing changes, antibiotics to prevent infection, and rapid fluid replacement, among other treatments," said Wang Guangjun, director of the Department of Hepatobiliary, Thyroid and Breast Burn Surgery under the Qingdao West Coast New Area Central Hospital.
The cause of the accident is now under investigation.
Rescue concludes after 25 confirmed dead in cargo ship fire in east China
Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza has hailed China as a strong supporter and partner of the organization in the fight against fraud.
Urquiza praised China for its efforts on the sidelines of the Inaugural Conference of the International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud, which was held in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, on Thursday.
At the conference, the China-initiated international alliance aimed at countering cross-border telecom and cyber fraud was established.
Interpol, formally known as the International Criminal Police Organization, is the world's largest international police organization, and has 196 member countries, aiming to help police in all of them to work together to make the world a safer place.
Noting that fraud and cyber-related crimes have become the priority for member countries of Interpol around the globe, Urquiza said initiatives such as the alliance are key on the fight against those threats, while describing the alliance as a "very good step."
Speaking of cooperation between China and Interpol, Urquiza highlighted China's notable contribution to fighting fraud-related crimes in recent years.
"China has been a strong supporter and partner of Interpol for the past years, especially in the fight against fraud. We have partnered with China a couple of years ago to enhance the efforts on building capacity and coordinating operational activities to fight crimes related to fraud," he told China Global Television Network (CGTN).
"With that, we establish an operation that is called the First Light Operation, which is one of the main areas of work of Interpol on the fight against fraud. Under this operation, we have been able to arrest more than 11,000 criminals that were operating fraud schemes and we have been able to locate and seize more than 600 million dollars that were related to criminal activities on fraud," said Urquiza.
Interpol chief hails China as strong supporter, partner in fighting fraud
