Moscow - Twenty people were feared dead on Tuesday after a fire
engulfed two cargo ships near the Crimean Peninsula.
The death toll stood at 10, with another 10 missing, as rescue
workers suspended their search until Wednesday, the Russian news
agency Interfax reported.
Twelve people survived the incident, the agency reported.
The blaze on the two ships, unleashed by an explosion, occurred on
Monday off the southern coast of Crimea, at the entrance to the Kerch
Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Sailors from India and Turkey were aboard the two ships. Some saved
themselves by diving into the water, some of them suffering burn
wounds and others hypothermia.
Both cargo vessels were sailing under the flags of Tanzania, and one
of them was a gas tanker.
Preliminary information suggested the explosion could have occurred
as fuel was being transferred from one ship to another, Russian media
reported.
Russia's annexation of Crimea from neighbouring Ukraine in 2014 and a
simmering pro-Russian rebellion in Ukraine's east have led to
tensions in the surrounding waters of the Black Sea.
In November, Russia's coastguard opened fire on several Ukrainian
naval vessels in the Kerch Strait, seizing them and Ukrainian crew
members for alleged border violations.
Ships must often wait weeks before being allowed to pass through the
Kerch Strait to the Sea of Azov. Ukraine has alleged that ships that
want to sail on to Ukrainian harbours are hassled by Russian
authorities.