KARACHI, Pakistan, March 10 (Xinhuanet) -- At least six naval personnel were killed and 103 injured Thursday when fire broke outin two Pakistan Navy ships during routine exercises at the naval dockyard in the southern city of Karachi, officials said.

    "Both the vessels belong to Pakistan Navy," said one defense official, who declined to be identified. "The ships are in the naval fleet and are used to play a supporting role to the armed forces," he added.

    "Fire broke out in a supporting ship of Pakistan navy (a naval oil tanker) that spread to another vessel busy doing war exercise," said a navy official. "The vessel's fan caught fire first, then flames engulfed the entire ship," he said.

    "Actually, it was the first vessel that got hurt and the other vessel was damaged a little," said the defense official.

    Most of the injured naval staff were taken to an armed forces-controlled hospital in the city while some were shifted to two state-run hospitals.

    Officials of the armed forces-controlled hospital said that they feared that there would be more deaths as 55 officers got more than 60 percent of burns. Some 40 naval personnel got minor burns injuries.

    "The blaze at Pakistan Navy ship PNS-Muwan broke out in the fuel tanker after a gas leakage," private Geo television quoted a navy spokesman as saying.

    The unnamed spokesman said the blaze started when the mechanicswere busy repairing work of the exhaust fan, killing those repairing the exhaust fan.

    He disclosed that the incident was the result of "human error,"adding that the accident happened as the mechanics did not follow the set procedure.

    Ambulances were rushed to the site to shift the injured to a naval hospital. Helicopters were also seen to remove the injured to the hospital.

    The naval authorities blocked the road leading to the dockyard and journalists were not allowed to move to the area, said the television. Enditem