CAIRO: A fire onboard a Jordanian cargo ship killed one sailor and seriously wounded three others in the Red Sea on Friday, an Egyptian naval officer said.
The engine of the Petra Express ship overheated during a crossing between the Jordanian port of Aqaba and Nuweiba in Egypt s Sinai Peninsula, said Brig. Mohammed Sayed.
The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning as the ship was some 6.8 nautical miles from Egypt s coast, and was put out an hour later by an Egyptian firefighting rescue boat.
The Jordanian sailor was asphyxiated by the smoke, Sayed said. Two other Jordanians were severely injured, along with an Egyptian engineer. Rescuers were trailing the cargo toward the coast.
Authorities have stepped-up safety measures at sea after an Egyptian ferry caught fire in the Red Sea in February, killing more than 1,000 passengers.
