Two oil tankers on fire off Singapore

 

A handout image shows the RSS Supreme's rigid-hulled inflatable boat in the vicinity of the burning vessels following a fire on two oil tankers about 55 km (34 miles) northeast of the Singaporean island of Pedra Branca, July 19, 2024. Republic of Singapore Navy/Handout via REUTERS  Image: Reuters/Republic of Singapore Navy

Two large oil tankers were on fire in waters near Singapore, the authorities said on Friday, raising concerns about the environment as well as the impact on operations at the world's biggest refueling port.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it was alerted to a fire on Friday at 6:15 a.m. onboard both a Singapore-flagged tanker, Hafnia Nile, and a Sao Tome and Principe-flagged tanker, Ceres I.

A helicopter had evacuated two crew members to Singapore General Hospital, it said, without elaborating.

In a statement on social media, Singapore Navy said the frigate RSS Supreme had rescued the crews from the vessels and was providing medical assistance. It did not immediately give details.

The vessels were about 55 km northeast of the Singaporean island of Pedra Branca on the eastern approach to the Singapore Straits. Photographs released by the Navy showed thick black smoke billowing from one tanker.

The cause of the fires was not immediately clear.

The 74,000 deadweight-tons capacity Panamax tanker Hafnia Nile (IMO 9766217) was carrying about 300,000 barrels of naphtha, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler and LSEG.

It was not immediately clear what fuel Ceres I (IMO 9229439) was carrying. The tanker is a very-large-crude-carrier (VLCC) of 300,000 deadweight-tons capacity and was last marked as carrying Iranian crude between March to April, ship-tracking data showed.

Singapore is Asia's biggest oil trading hub and the world's largest bunkering port and surrounding waters are vital trade waterways between Asia and Europe and the Middle East.

China shopping center fire kills 16

 

Firefighters extinguish a fire tearing through a shopping centre in Zigong in China's southwestern Sichuan province on July 17, 2024  Image: CNS/AFP

A fire that tore through a shopping center in southwestern China has killed 16 people, state media reported Thursday.

Rescue operations concluded at around 3 a.m. on Thursday, according to the local fire and rescue services cited by state news agency Xinhua.

Video broadcast by state media CCTV and shared on social media Wednesday night showed thick black smoke billowing out of the 14-story tower in Zigong, Sichuan province.

The blaze started in the early evening in a shopping centre at the foot of the building, the channel said.

Around 30 people were rescued from the complex, with the fire extinguished by rescuers around 8:20 p.m. on Wednesday, CCTV said.

Later footage provided by a drone operator to AFP showed firetrucks and other first responders blocking off the road late at night, continuing to spray down the charred building.

As of 3 a.m. Thursday, the death toll stood at 16 with no individuals left trapped inside, according to Xinhua.

Zigong's emergency services department received news about the fire at around 6:10 p.m. and immediately dispatched firefighters to extinguish the blaze, the broadcaster said.

Other images shared on social media -- which AFP could not immediately verify -- show people gathered in front of the burning building.

The emergency department has called on the public to "not to believe or amplify rumors" about the fire.

Zigong, around 1,900 kilometers from the capital Beijing, is home to nearly 2.5 million people.

Fires are common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.

In January, dozens died after a fire broke out at a store in the central city of Xinyu, with Xinhua reporting the blaze had been caused by the "illegal" use of fire by workers in the store's basement.

The same month, a fire in a residential building killed at least 15 people.

That fire came just days after a late-evening blaze at a school in central China's Henan province killed 13 children as they slept in a dormitory.

In June last year, an explosion at a barbecue restaurant in the northwest of the country left 31 dead and prompted official pledges of a nationwide campaign to promote workplace safety.

And in April 2023, a fire in a Beijing hospital claimed 29 lives and forced desperate patients to jump from windows to escape.