A fire on a cargo ship carrying almost 3,000 cars off the coast of the Dutch island of Ameland has left one sailor dead and 22 others hurt.
A major salvage operation is in full swing in an area of the North Sea designated a World Heritage site, reports the BBC.
Twenty-two crew members were taken to hospital with breathing problems, burns and other injuries.
A Dutch coastguard spokesman said the fire was probably caused by one of 25 electric vehicles on board the ship.
Photos shared by the coastguard showed the ship engulfed in smoke, with flames licking the deck.
The coastguard told Dutch news agency ANP the fire could continue for days. The sides of the ship were being doused with water to cool it down, but rescue boats avoided pouring too much water on board because of the risk of sinking.
Members of the crew initially tried to douse the flames themselves but were overwhelmed and were eventually forced to evacuate in a frightening turn of events.
The captain of the Ameland lifeboat, Willard Molenaar, told public broadcaster NOS that seven people had leapt 30m into the sea: „One by one they jumped and we had to fish them out of the water. They were really desperate so they had to jump.”
The immediate challenge for emergency crews at the scene is to extinguish the fire and keep the cargo ship afloat.Salvage boats are circling, in preparation for all possible scenarios.
The North Sea foundation environmental group said the Wadden Sea had become increasingly vulnerable because of bigger ships using an extremely busy shipping route. Last year a cargo ship carrying 4,000 luxury cars caught fire and sank off the Azores. Lithium-ion batteries in the cars caught fire and firefighters needed specialist equipment to put out the fire.
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