(Xinhua)
WELLINGTON - Two Chinese crewmen were dead Monday afternoon after becoming pinned by logs and suffocated in a ship's timber hold at Marsden Point wharf near Whangarei, according to local media.
Another Chinese crewman is in a serious condition following the accident, which happened at about 05:00 pm local time at Northport, 38 km south east of Whangarei, NZPA reported.
The injured man was flown by helicopter to Whangarei Hospital.
Police said details were sketchy but a crew member of the Panamanian-registered bulk carrier TPC Wellington, which was loading logs, became trapped in the hold, a second member of the crew became trapped attempting to rescue him and a third went into the hold after them both.
Northport chief executive Jon Moore told NZPA that the deaths were a "terrible" event.
He understood the Chinese crew had entered an enclosed space containing logs. The logs had not been fumigated but the space may have become oxygen depleted through a natural organic process.
The accident was an on board issue and not ship loading or port- related and Maritime New Zealand would further investigate the accident, he said.
New Zealand Police and the Department of Labour are also investigating.
China Daily
