The Indian Coast Guard is attempting to tow a container ship that caught fire off the coast of Kerala in southern India earlier this week to prevent a potential ecological disaster.

India's coast guard said it was battling to extinguish fires raging on a container ship carrying "hazardous" cargo off the southern coast to prevent a "potential ecological disaster". The 268m Singapore-flagged container vessel MV Wan Hai 503,

Two of the missing crew in the Singapore-flagged ship are from Taiwan, one from Myanmar and one from Indonesia.