WATCH: Four crew missing after container ship explosion off coast of India

Four sailors are reported missing after an explosion and fire aboard a containership off the west coast of India.

Emergency responders led by the India Coast Guard were fighting a raging, smoky blaze aboard the Wan Hai 503 sailing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Nhava Sheva.

Reports said the fires were ignited Monday by an explosion in the cargo hold of the 882-foot Singapore-flagged ship, built in 2005.

Four crew are reported missing while five suffered injuries, including two in critical condition with severe burns. Eighteen crew were rescued.

Video of the 4,252-TEU vessel showed a number of containers missing and others burned and damaged in the incident.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

The ship was deployed on Taiwan-based Wan Hai’s China-India Express Service (CIX) rotation of Kaiohsiung, Taiwan – Hong Kong – Shekou, China – Singapore – Port Klang, Malaysia – Colombo – Nhava Sheva.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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