2 Missing, 16 Hurt in Fire on U.S. Carrier : Navy: The blaze erupts on the Midway off Japan. A series of incidents last fall brought a two-day suspension of operations for a safety check.

A fire raged for hours Wednesday aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Midway, injuring 16 sailors, at least nine seriously, and blocking attempts to find two missing sailors, the Navy said.

The accident prompted demonstrations in the ship’s home port of Yokosuka, where city officials demanded that the Midway be barred from returning until its safety has been confirmed.

It was the second serious Navy accident since a series of incidents last fall that caused 14 deaths and resulted in a two-day suspension of operations in November for a safety check.

Smoke was detected aboard the Midway shortly before noon during flight exercises at sea off Japan, said Lt. Jeff Gradeck of the Public Affairs Office at the U.S. Navy base at Yokosuka, near Tokyo.

An explosion occurred on the ship about half an hour later, and a second blast followed shortly afterward, Gradeck said. The fire was still burning more than 10 hours later but was confined to an emergency equipment storeroom four decks below the flight deck.

Asked if the injury toll meant the explosions had been large, Gradeck said: “Not necessarily. The fire hasn’t been put out yet and we just don’t know. . . . The fire has been contained in a certain area and until the fire is put out, they can’t go into that area.”

The room contained wood, gas masks, firefighting gear and other emergency equipment, but no explosive material, he said. Gradeck added that the fire was unrelated to the flight exercises and said its cause, still undetermined, was being investigated.

Nine of the injured were flown to hospitals in Japan, and seven others were treated aboard the ship, the Navy said. Of the nine, one was in critical condition, four suffered very serious burns, two were in serious condition, one was in guarded condition and one was stable.

Gradeck said the Navy was notifying families of the victims, some of whom live in Yokosuka and some in the United States.

About 4,500 crew members, including fliers and aviation crews, were aboard the Midway, the Navy’s oldest carrier in active service, the Navy said.

The 1,000-foot-long ship was commissioned in 1945 but has been extensively modernized.

Late Wednesday, the 67,000-ton ship was moving under its own power about 125 miles northeast of Yokosuka, Gradeck said. A decision on when the Midway would return to port was up to the commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet.

A group of Yokosuka residents demonstrated in front of the base, demanding that the aircraft carrier be ejected from the city.

Critics contend that U.S. ships have brought nuclear weapons into Japanese ports despite a Japanese prohibition of them. As a matter of policy, the United States refuses to comment on the location of its nuclear weapons.

In the last major fire aboard a U.S. warship, a pre-dawn blaze broke out May 8 on the guided-missile destroyer Conyngham during routine operations in the Atlantic about 100 miles southeast of Norfolk, Va.

One crewman was killed and 18 were injured in that fire.