10 Die In Tanker Blast

At least 10 Romanian workers were killed in an explosion on an empty oil tanker undergoing repair work in the Black Sea port of Constanta on Tuesday. "Ten blackened corpses were scattered by the blast on the ship's deck," said one of the emergency service crew. An official list submitted to the port authority showed 14 Romanians were registered to refit the 85,000-ton Maltese tanker Anopolis in Constanta shipyard. They were doing welding work to replace corroded metal panels on the side of the vessel, private Romanian news agency Mediafax reported. Gases from crude oil residue inside the tanker may have helped spark the explosion, Mediafax quoted an official at the Santierul Naval Constanta shipyard as saying. - (Reuters)