One person has been killed and several injured after a major fire on a cargo ship in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands, the Dutch coast guard has said.
Boats and helicopters were used to get the 23 crew members off the ship after they failed to put out the blaze, the coast guard said.
Images taken from the shore showed a long plume of grey smoke drifting over the sea from the ship.
The ship, the Fremantle Highway, is a vehicle carrier that was sailing from the German port of Bremen to Port Said in Egypt.
It was sailing 27km (17 miles) north of the island of Ameland, around 180km from Amsterdam, when the fire started, a statement said.
The ship had around 3,000 cars on board, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS, and the fire probably started in one of the 25 electric cars on board, the news service added, citing a spokesperson for the coast guard.
Emergency services are still present near the blazing ship, which sails under a Panamanian flag.
