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2 Chinese dead, 7 still missing in oil tanker fire

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-21 23:34

 

A handout photo released by Malaysian Royal Police Air Unit on August 19, 2009 shows the Liberian-registered tanker Formosaproduct Brick on fire in the Strait of Malacca outside Port Dickson, 100 km (62 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur, August 19, 2009. [Agencies]

KUALA LUMPUR: Two of the nine missing Chinese seamen were found dead in the tanker which caught fire after colliding with another ship near Malacca Straits, according to source from China's Embassy in Malaysia.

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A group of twenty rescuers stepped aboard the tanker on Friday after continuously spraying water for almost two days onto the ship for cooling it down. So far, the rescuing work is still going on.

A naphtha-transporting tanker owned by a Taiwan company collided with a bulk carrier on August 18 night near Port Dickson in the Malacca Straits and caught fire in seconds. There were 25 Chinese seamen on board and 16 of them escaped in life boats.