Two workers were killed in a fire on a retired Russian aircraft carrier in Qinhuangdao city, north China's Hebei Province, Wednesday morning.

The fire took place around 10:45 am toward the bow of the carrier, which was anchored at a dockyard while receiving maintenance work before an exhibition on Sept. 16 at a tourism resort in Tianjin, a major port in north China.

One of the workers died in the fire and other in hospital, said Yan Aidong, a dockyard official.

The fire was put out at 5 pm and an investigation is underway into the cause.

The blaze caused no serious damage to the carrier, the "Kiev", which would soon be repaired.

The carrier was retired from the Russian navy in 1994 and bought by a Chinese travel company. The maintenance work started in May 2001.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2003)