Explosion aboard oil tanker located east of Hong Kong leaves 1 dead and 6 injured, reports say

• An explosion occurred aboard an oil tanker in waters east of Hong Kong, reports said.
• At least one crew member died and six were injured, per South China Morning Post.

An explosion aboard an oil tanker east of Hong Kong killed one person and left six injured on Saturday.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) first reported the news.

The Government Flying Service was notified of the incident at around 4 a.m. ET., 300 km east of Hong Kong, per the outlet.

After contacting the service, The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center sent two helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft to the site, according to the outlet.

Priscilla Yip, a spokesperson for the The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, told Insider that the vessel was a Panama-registered tanker named "Chuang Yi" and had 13 crew members onboard.

"The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre immediately tasked the Hong Kong Government Flying Service for rescue and six crew members have been evacuated from the tanker so far," Yip told Insider. "The Hong Kong Marine Department will continue to follow up with the incident."

According to SCMP, a spokesman said the fire aboard the Panama-flagged vessel was contained but it caused the death of one crew member. Another suffered second-degree burns to 30% of his body, and two others had burns to the face, the outlet added.

The first helicopter arrived around 7 a.m. ET and picked up three seriously injured crew members, while the second helicopter was still en route to rescue two Indonesians and one Myanmese man who were also injured in the blast, per the report.

The Government Flying Service told SCMP that the Marine Department and the tanker operator would handle the transfer of the dead crew member's body but said the vessel had no more power.

It is unclear at this stage which company the vessel belongs to.