(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> An explosion struck a cargo ship carrying petroleum in waters off South Korea's western port city of Incheon on Sunday (January 15), killing five people, the coast guard said.<br/> Six crew were missing.<br/> A Korea Coast Guard spokesman said the explosion on the 4,191-tonne freight ship, with 16 crewmen -- 11 Koreans and 5 Myanmar nationals -- on board, happened in waters north of Jawol Island near Incheon. Five people, including the captain, were rescued.<br/> At least two of the dead crewmen were from Myanmar, the spokesman said. The coast guard was trying to identify the bodies of the other crew.<br/> The explosion tore the ship almost into two parts leaving it half-submerged. No oil leakage was reported.<br/> The ship was heading south to return to Daesan, another port on the west coast, after unloading gasoline at the Incheon port.<br/> The cause of the explosion was not known immediately but the Yonhap news agency quoted the captain of the ill-fated vessel as saying the blast had occurred while the crew was draining gasoline vapors from an oil tank on the deck to remove residues.<br/> He said that static electricity may have ignited the gas, causing the explosion.
