One missing, four injured in tanker explosion in western Japan

A tanker exploded and caught fire on the sea near Himeji city in Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan Thursday morning, leaving one man missing and four others injured, local press reported.

The explosion happened at around 9:25 a.m. local time when crew members were making maintenance works in the tanker. Seven of eight crew members were saved after the explosion, but four of them were injured, the report said, adding that the captain of the tanker went missing.

The tanker belongs to a company in Japan's Hiroshima Prefecture. It was on the sea close to the Shikama Port in Himeji City when the blast occurred, according to the report.