4 Crew Members Missing After Cargo Ship Explodes and Bursts into Flames
Of the four missing people, two are from Taiwan, one is from Indonesia and another is from Myanmar, according to a report
Forty containers of cargo reportedly fell into the watersFour crew members are missing after a container ship off the coast of Kerala in southern India exploded and burst into flames, authorities said.
The Singapore-flagged ship MV Wan Hai 503 was carrying 22 people at the time of the incident on Monday, June 9, Commandant Amit Uniyal of the Indian Coast Guard said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.
Eighteen crew members abandoned the vessel and were rescued by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.
Uniyal said that of the four missing people, two are from Taiwan, one is from Indonesia and another is from Myanmar, according to the AP.
The Indian Coast Guard shared a post on X showing thick plumes of smoke emanating from the distressed vessel.
The nearly 890-foot ship was traveling from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Mumbai, India, when the incident occurred around 10:30 a.m., local time, as the 18 crew members jumped into the waters and were in rescue boats, according to The Independent.
Officials said 40 containers fell into the Arabian Sea, Reuters reported. Authorities have not shared what may have caused the explosions and the status of the cargo.
'The vessel is presently adrift, and firefighting efforts have commenced to bring the situation under control,' Uniyal said, the AP reported. 'Saving lives of the crew in distress, firefighting and mitigating environment hazard remains the priority for coast guard.'
According to The Independent, the MV Wan Hai 503 is overseen by Wan Hai Lines, a container shipping company based in Taiwan.
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PEOPLE contacted the Indian Coast Guard and Wan Hai Lines for additional information on Monday.
Last month, a Liberian cargo vessel sank off the coast of Kerala, the Times of India reported. Officials said that based on a preliminary investigation, a mechanical failure caused the accident.
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PHOTO ESSAY: Tohono O'odham families carry on sacred saguaro fruit harvest in Arizona borderlands
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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
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In Arizona borderlands, a sacred saguaro harvest marks the Tohono O'odham's new year
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'I feel like I'm surrounded by all the people that were here before us, all the ancestors,' Francisco said in a desert wash lined with saguaros, flowering creosote bushes and spiny cholla cacti. 'We talk about them constantly when we're out here.' Foremost for the cousins' extended family is 'Grandma Juana.' In the 1960s, elder Juanita Ahil campaigned to preserve their access to the harvesting camp in the foothills west of Tucson after the land became part of Saguaro National Park. Tucker Lohse's late mother, Stella Tucker, carried on the harvesting tradition that's now organized by the two cousins. 'I'm taking on a big responsibility, a big legacy,' said Tucker Lohse, who brought her 4-year-old daughter along this year. 'My mom knows we're still here.' 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The latter two are collected into patties that, after being dried in the relentless sun, make natural pectin for saguaro jam. Then the juice is cooked again, reducing it to a syrup, and its flowery, caramel-like smell pervades the camp. Since the syrup is one-tenth the quantity of the harvested fruit pulp, it takes a pair of harvesters about 10 hours in the desert to get enough to make 64 ounces (1.9 liters) of syrup. Finally, a bit of syrup is mixed with water and left to ferment to make wine for Nawait I'i. That's the dayslong ceremony in which O'odham pray together to their Creator to keep sending the monsoon rains that make it possible to plant traditional crops like beans, squash and corn. The resurgence of traditional ways of life For many Native Americans, losing access to land, natural cycles of agriculture and the local foods that sustained them for centuries has meant spiking rates of diabetes, alcoholism and other diseases that disproportionately plague their communities. Too many elders lost their lives this way, putting at risk their language and traditions and more of their land. 'I watched them slowly pass away and no one took over,' Tucker Lohse said. That's why she, Francisco and others push to teach youth about saguaro harvesting and other practices. 'I'm really proud Maria has picked it up,' said Francisco's mother, Josephine Ramon, adding that she's relearning some traditions she was taught as a child from her daughter. Ramon said she regrets not teaching the language to younger family members who lived off the reservation, as about one third of the nation's 30,000 members do. City living also distances many from heirloom crops, which the Indigenous-run San Xavier Co-op Farm just south of Tucson is trying to regenerate, said one of its managers, Amy Juan, who harvests near the cousins' camp. 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A Tohono O'odham family integrates Catholic and Native beliefs in the Arizona desert
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