Two mainland seamen were killed, another was missing, feared dead, and two others suffered burns after an explosion aboard an oil tanker outside Hong Kong waters.
The surviving victims were airlifted to Hong Kong yesterday morning after a Government Flying Service (GFS) helicopter made a four-hour journey to and from the scene, including a refuelling stop at an oil rig in the South China Sea.
Last night, the two men, aged 28 and 30, were in stable condition in Queen Mary Hospital.
A search-and-rescue operation was launched when an explosion followed by a fire occurred aboard the Belize-registered tanker, Summer Star, in international waters 170 nautical miles east of Hong Kong on Thursday night. The 78-metre vessel with a crew of 12 mainlanders, was carrying about 2,000 tonnes of diesel oil from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to Vietnam.
'At about 7.30pm on Thursday, we received a report from the ship agency in Hong Kong saying there had been an explosion on the deck of the vessel and then it caught fire. The location is within our responsible area,' said marine officer Chan Hon-bun from the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
'A GFS fixed-wing plane was then dispatched to the scene and passing vessels were also asked to offer assistance. The blaze had been put out when the fixed-wing plane arrived. Two seamen were killed and another two crew suffered burns in the explosion. The fifth victim is still missing after being thrown overboard. But the cause of the blast is not yet known.' The other seven crew members were unhurt and the vessel, which remained afloat, did not appear to be in danger of sinking. Sweeps by a GFS plane failed to spot the missing crewman, a first engineer aged 32. It is believed he was not wearing a life jacket. The search was suspended last night and passing vessels informed.
