A fire broke out on a foreign-flagged cargo ship undergoing repairs at a shipyard in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, leaving 20 people dead and 5 missing.

According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 10th, the fire occurred at approximately 11:15 a.m. on a foreign-flagged cargo ship undergoing repairs at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., an affiliate of China State Shipbuilding Corporation.

At the time of the accident, a total of 42 people were aboard the vessel. Among them, 12 evacuated safely and 5 were injured and transported to a hospital.

Contact with the remaining 25 people was temporarily lost, but rescue authorities launched a search and found 20 of them by 5:30 p.m.

All of them were found dead, while the remaining 5 are still missing.

The 5 injured individuals are reportedly not in life-threatening condition.

Chinese authorities only stated that the vessel was of foreign nationality and did not disclose its specific country of registry.

The fire was extinguished around 2:30 p.m., about three hours after the accident occurred.

Chinese authorities have activated an emergency response system and mobilized emergency management, firefighting, public security, and health departments to conduct rescue and search operations.

Following the accident, Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed authorities to accelerate the search for the missing, make every effort to comfort the bereaved families, and handle the aftermath of the accident.

He also ordered a swift investigation into the cause of the accident and strict accountability in accordance with the law.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang also called for all-out efforts in rescue operations, treatment of the injured, and handling of the accident's aftermath, while thoroughly preventing secondary disasters.

(Photo: Yonhap News)