Video: Three people 'in serious condition' after two barges explode in Alabama

Fire burns aboard a fuel barge near Mobile in Alabama (AP)

Three people have been hurt in multiple explosions aboard two fuel barges in the Mobile River off Alabama city, forcing officials to evacuate nearby shipyards and one cruise vessel.

Three people were taken to a nearby hospital suffering burns.

Mobile Fire Chief Steve Dean said that for safety reasons firefighters were keeping a distance from the barges, which were carrying raw gasoline and had already been the source of multiple explosions.

"Everybody is just monitoring the situation right now," Dean told reporters.

WALA-TV, the Fox affiliate in Mobile, reported the three people were injured people were listed in critical condition.

The station said the barge explosions and fires occurred near where Carnival Corp's Triumph cruise ship was moored.

The Triumph made headlines in February when an engine fire left the ship and its 4,000 passengers adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, until they were towed back to land.