Indian oil tanker explodes in China, 7 dead

An Indian oil tanker being repaired at a shipyard in east China exploded and caught fire today, killing 7 Chinese workers.

The explosion took place around 7:20 am, when the workers were repairing the tanker at the Haizhou Shipyard in Zhoushan city of Zhejiang province, said a spokesman with the provincial work safety supervision bureau.

All the victims were Chinese, the spokesman said.

There was no report of an oil spill.

The oil tanker, which has an oil load capacity of 50,000 tonnes, was unloaded when the explosion occurred and smoke was detected, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, it said.
 

State-run CCTV said an open flame triggered the blast but did not provide further details.