A powerful explosion sets off a fireball on a container ship at a Chinese port

BEIJING (AP) — A powerful explosion set off a fireball on a container ship loaded with hazardous goods at a major port on China’s Pacific coast, state media and authorities said Friday.

Surveillance camera video posted online by state broadcaster CCTV showed a huge burst of white smoke followed by an orange and yellow fireball that dispersed debris and completely engulfed containers stacked at least three high.

No injuries were reported from the explosion and an ensuing fire at the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, just south of Shanghai and one of the largest in the world. A container on the docked ship is believed to have exploded, CCTV said.

An aerial photo posted by the broadcaster showed black smoke rising from a stack of containers at one end of the ship and from an area on the dock. The rest of the ship and its containers appeared undamaged.

The Zhejiang Province Emergency Management Administration said the ship was loaded with Class 5 hazardous materials, but it didn’t say what they were.