Fireworks factory blast leaves at least 13 dead
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
August 17, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A MASSIVE explosion ripped through a fireworks factory in northeast China early yesterday, killing at least 13 people, damaging nearby buildings and causing secondary blasts.
Another 148 people were injured in the explosion that hit the factory in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, with 14 of them listed in serious conditions.
Of the fatalities, 10 died on the site when the explosion occurred at 9:45am. The factory, owned by the Huali Industry Co Ltd, is in the Wumahe District of Yichun City, said a spokesman for the city's government.
A second round of explosions started to rock the factory at 10:10am and lasted more than 10 minutes, according to the People's Daily.
More than 2,000 residents were evacuated after the explosion shattered almost all windows within a 1-kilometer radius and damaged iron fences up to 100 meters away.
One factory building was leveled and a crate about 6 meters deep was created by the blast.
The local government offices were among the buildings whose windows were smashed.
Witnesses said the shockwave of the explosion was felt up to 5 kilometers away.
Xu Fanxiu, a worker at a repair shop across the street, said while pointing to glass pieces strewn across the road, "The impact was so violent. I happened to be in a corner, otherwise I would have been injured."
The fire was under control about 4pm after a helicopter dumped water on the blaze, but some fireworks were still exploding at the time, said the spokesman.
Nearly 2,000 firemen, soldiers and police and 62 fire trucks were sent to completely extinguish the fire and search for the survivors, he said.
The workers were moving fireworks from a warehouse when the mishap occurred. The factory had been ordered to be relocated for a property development.
Zhao Weiqiang, a deputy director of the district, told reporters that about 40 employees were working in the factory at the time.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
An unidentified person in charge of the factory has been put under police custody, the People's Daily reported.
The factory's production license had been cancelled before the blast, so it was operating illegally, the newspaper quoted Zhang Sheng, head of the provincial work safety agency, as saying. It didn't mention why its production license had been canceled.
Authorities have put up evacuated residents at hotels and schools in the city.
Leng Li, chief of the provincial firefighting center, said they had a difficult time dousing the blaze as the factory was far away from a water source and it was difficult to move large-scale firefighting equipment to the site.
Three timber mills are near the fireworks factory. More blasts were possible, Leng said late yesterday.
Eyewitness' photos posted on the Internet showed plumes of smoke curling above the fireworks plant.
Safety is lax at some Chinese fireworks plants, and accidents are common. Dozens of people also die each year from unsafe handling of fireworks while celebrating weddings and traditional holidays.
Fatalities in the country's notoriously dangerous coal mines decreased to 2,631 last year, compared with a peak of 6,995 deaths in 2002, according to official figures.
That works out to 7.2 deaths a day in 2009, down from 19.1 a day in 2002.
Another 148 people were injured in the explosion that hit the factory in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, with 14 of them listed in serious conditions.
Of the fatalities, 10 died on the site when the explosion occurred at 9:45am. The factory, owned by the Huali Industry Co Ltd, is in the Wumahe District of Yichun City, said a spokesman for the city's government.
A second round of explosions started to rock the factory at 10:10am and lasted more than 10 minutes, according to the People's Daily.
More than 2,000 residents were evacuated after the explosion shattered almost all windows within a 1-kilometer radius and damaged iron fences up to 100 meters away.
One factory building was leveled and a crate about 6 meters deep was created by the blast.
The local government offices were among the buildings whose windows were smashed.
Witnesses said the shockwave of the explosion was felt up to 5 kilometers away.
Xu Fanxiu, a worker at a repair shop across the street, said while pointing to glass pieces strewn across the road, "The impact was so violent. I happened to be in a corner, otherwise I would have been injured."
The fire was under control about 4pm after a helicopter dumped water on the blaze, but some fireworks were still exploding at the time, said the spokesman.
Nearly 2,000 firemen, soldiers and police and 62 fire trucks were sent to completely extinguish the fire and search for the survivors, he said.
The workers were moving fireworks from a warehouse when the mishap occurred. The factory had been ordered to be relocated for a property development.
Zhao Weiqiang, a deputy director of the district, told reporters that about 40 employees were working in the factory at the time.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
An unidentified person in charge of the factory has been put under police custody, the People's Daily reported.
The factory's production license had been cancelled before the blast, so it was operating illegally, the newspaper quoted Zhang Sheng, head of the provincial work safety agency, as saying. It didn't mention why its production license had been canceled.
Authorities have put up evacuated residents at hotels and schools in the city.
Leng Li, chief of the provincial firefighting center, said they had a difficult time dousing the blaze as the factory was far away from a water source and it was difficult to move large-scale firefighting equipment to the site.
Three timber mills are near the fireworks factory. More blasts were possible, Leng said late yesterday.
Eyewitness' photos posted on the Internet showed plumes of smoke curling above the fireworks plant.
Safety is lax at some Chinese fireworks plants, and accidents are common. Dozens of people also die each year from unsafe handling of fireworks while celebrating weddings and traditional holidays.
Fatalities in the country's notoriously dangerous coal mines decreased to 2,631 last year, compared with a peak of 6,995 deaths in 2002, according to official figures.
That works out to 7.2 deaths a day in 2009, down from 19.1 a day in 2002.
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