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At least 20 people have been killed after a cargo ship caught fire in a Chinese port.
Beijing media reports a total of 42 people had been on the vessel, which was undergoing repairs in the eastern city of Qingdao.
The blaze was extinguished by early afternoon, state news agency Xinhua said.
A picture of the scene released by Xinhua showed the vessel involved to be the Ocean Melody.
LSEG ship-tracking data identified it as a 20-year-old Liberia-flagged dry bulk carrier managed by Yuyangkunpeng Shanghai Shp Mgm, with Huili Shipping Co Ltd listed as its registered owner.
The vessel arrived at the Qingdao shipyard on August 31 and has remained there since, LSEG data showed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for intensified search and rescue efforts, a swift investigation and accountability measures, according to Xinhua.
The shipyard is controlled by state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), one of the world's largest shipbuilders.
The vessel caught fire while docked in the eastern Chinese port
|X/CHINESE MEDIA
CSSC describes itself as China's principal naval shipbuilder and the country's largest designer and builder of ships and offshore equipment.
A 2022 recruitment notice on the CSSC-owned Qingdao unit's website said the shipyard had annual shipbuilding capacity of three million deadweight tons and could repair 212 vessels a year.
The fire comes around a month after an explosion at a shipyard in the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian killed a rescue worker and injured 12 others.
Beijing has recently launched a campaign targeting high-rise buildings after a deadly blaze in Hong Kong killed 168 people.
The scene of the devastating fire in Hong Kong
| REUTERSThe devastating fire tore through the Wang Fuk Court housing complex on November 26.
It is believed to have begun on bamboo scaffolding surrounding one of the residential towers undergoing renovation.
Wrapped in plastic mesh and combined with foam insulation materials on the building exterior, the scaffolding allowed flames to spread with extraordinary speed up the façade before jumping between several 31-storey blocks.
A fire broke out at the Wang Fuk Court complex
|GETTY
Meanwhile, a blaze at a fireworks factory in central China back in May killed 37, while a fire at a shoe factory in the Fujian province in July killed at least 28 people.