Blast at fireworks factory in southern China kills 3

Blast at fireworks factory in southern China kills 3

2011-09-29 20:07:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

NANNING (BNO NEWS) -- At least three people were killed on early Thursday morning when an explosion rocked a fireworks factory in southern China, state-run media reported. Several others were injured.

The explosion happened at around 5.30 a.m. local time at a fireworks factory in the Yuzhou district, which is under the administration of Yulin city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Few details were immediately released.

A brief report from the state-run Xinhua news agency said at least three people were killed as a result of the explosion while two others were rushed to Yuzhou First People's Hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Xinhua said the cause of the explosion is being investigated.

Major accidents involving fireworks are rare but occur more frequently towards the end of the Gregorian calendar's year when demand is high. Many of these accidents happen in China as it is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks.

On January 13, as the traditional Chinese New Year's holiday approached, nine people were killed and four others were injured when a large explosion ripped through a fireworks workshop in northwest China. Police said the firecrackers were being illegally made.

A month earlier, on December 17, fourteen people were killed when a truck carrying fireworks fuses hit a power pole in central China, causing sparks from fallen cables to ignite the fuses. A large explosion as a result destroyed the truck and several houses nearby.

The deadly accident came just several days after eight people were killed on December 12 when a room filled with fireworks exploded in a busy street in eastern China. The Chinese government in response pledged to investigate and crack down on the illegal production of fireworks.

Worldwide, other notable fireworks-related accidents happened on May 13, 2000, when twenty-three people were killed and nearly 950 others were injured when a massive fireworks explosion devastated a neighborhood in the Dutch city of Enschede.

And on February 1, 2008, twenty-two people were killed and more than 100 others were injured when an unlicensed fireworks factory exploded in the Turkish capital of Istanbul.

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