An oil tanker seeking shelter from a tropical storm ran into rocks on the south China coast
Date: 12-Sep-02
Country: SINGAPORE
Two crew members were missing and eight suffered serious burns, it said.
The tanker was travelling south from China's Nanjing, a port on the Yangtze River, to Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province, with a cargo of solvent oil, Xinhua, monitored by the BBC, said.
The vessel breached as it drew near to land and oil poured into the sea, Xinhua said.
The captain and 15 seamen abandoned the ship and fired off signal flare for help, only for it to ignite the leaking oil.
The tanker itself soon caught fire and exploded.
Fourteen seamen were rescued, but two others were missing. Eight injured were being treated at a local hospital.
There was no information about environmental damage.
The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted tropical cyclone warning signal number eight in the early afternoon, its third highest storm warning.
A spokesman for the weather bureau said it was unclear whether the number eight signal could be lowered tonight.
Tropical storm Hagupit was expected to tear into the western part of Guangdong early on Thursday. The observatory said it would miss Hong Kong, but still blast the tiny territory with gale force winds and torrential rain.
Hagupit is a Philippine word for "lashing".
