Five workers were killed and seven injured in a blast at an Alang shipbreaking yard in India on Saturday morning.

"Five persons were killed while seven others sustained injuries after a fire broke out following a blast in the ship which was being dismantled in plot number 140 at the yard," Police sub inspector (PSI) K J Rathod of Marine Police Station, Alang, was quoted as saying in local press reports.

The blast is reported to have claimed the lives of five workers on the spot.

The acccident that happened at 10-30 hrs local time on Saturday is believed to have been caused by a gas leak on a vessel being dismantled, although the exact cause is being investigated.

The fatal blast will again put the spotlight on safety standards in the world’s largest ship scrapping area. In May this year pressure group NGO Shipbreaking Platform said that at least 15 workers had lost their lives in South Asian shipbreaking yards since the beginning of 2014.