MANGALURU: The condition of two injured in the fire that broke out on the cargo ship Wan Hai 503 in the sea near the Kerala coast remains critical. It is reported that they have suffered severe burns including to their lungs. Lu Enli of China and Sonaitur Eseni, a Taiwanese who are undergoing treatment at the Mangaluru SJ Hospital are in a critical condition.

Meantime, search is on for the four people missing in the accident. The container ship en route from Colombo to Mumbai caught fire yesterday. There were 22 people on board the ship. The Navy brought 18 crew members, including the captain, who jumped into the sea in a lifeboat to Manguluru. The disaster occurred 44 nautical miles (81.5 km) from Kannur Azhikkal Port. Though the coast guard and navy are around the ship keeping a distance, the fire has not been extinguished.

The fire has spread to more than half of the ship, whose engine has stopped. There are also indications that containers have fallen into the sea. The rescue mission was called off at 8 pm.

The Singapore-flagged ship Wan Hai 503, which was sailing from Colombo, Sri Lanka to the Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai, is the victim of the disaster. The container exploded at 9.30 am yesterday and the ship caught fire at around 12.40 pm.

Two of the four missing are Taiwanese, one Indonesian and one Myanmar national. Although a search was conducted in the sea for them, they could not be found even late at night. There are concerns that they have been trapped in the ship, unable to escape.