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Qinzhou -- China
The blast at the fireworks factory in Pubei County, Qinzhou, may have been caused by a blast inside a workshop, the initial investigation found. Xinhua News Agency said three major shops at the factory were destroyed by the blast while the roofs of four surrounding rooms were also blown off. The township factory employed nearly 100 people and had an output value of 5 million yuan (US$604,600) last year. The wounded were all rushed to local hospitals and are being taken care of. More than 80 medical workers were organized to help them, Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. The Guangxi government has called on all fireworks plants in the autonomous region to stop production and improve safety measures, China News Service reported yesterday. A Pubei County official told China News Service that the accident was the third blast at a fireworks factory in the county since May. The official said the other two incidents in May and August killed three and injured more than 10, including two children, who were hurt by fireworks left at the site of the May explosion. There are growing safety concerns regarding to fireworks factories, the official was quoted as saying. Guangxi is a fireworks manufacturing base and fireworks factories are major sources of income for local governments in cities like Beihai, Yulin and Qinzhou. However, fireworks production is hazardous. Guangxi launched a campaign last year to phase out unqualified companies. According to Xinhua, the number of private producers dropped by more than a half by May.
Qinzhou -- China -- The death toll from a fireworks factory explosion in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had risen to 31 by Tuesday night (October 5). The explosion, which occurred around 4:00pm on Monday, killed 24 people on the spot. The number of injured reached 57. Most were seriously injured and were receiving treatment at local hospitals. At least four remained in a critical condition, according to local sources. All the victims were employees of the Changling Fireworks Factory. Fortunately, there were no households or other factories in the immediate vicinity of the factory, which is located in a valley of Pubei County in the city of Qinzhou. "The three main workshops were all reduced to ruins by the powerful blast," local media reported Tuesday. "The blast also destroyed the factory's office building." A press conference held on Tuesday morning by the county government said the explosion began in the powder-filling workshop. Further investigation is under way. At the People's Hospital in Pubei County, which received all the seriously injured workers, more than 80 doctors convened to treat the victims. "The county leadership required us to spare no efforts or money to save them," He Wenzhen, deputy director of the hospital, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying. Officials at the press conference said the factory produced 5 million yuan (US$600,000) in fireworks last year and has about 100 employees. The factory's accounts have been frozen. This was not the first time a blast at a fireworks factory has occurred in Pubei County. On August 21, an explosion at another factory named Tonghua killed the factory boss at the scene. In May, another explosion at a local firecraker factory killed two and injured 11. According to incomplete statistics from the
Beijing-based Elite Reference newspaper, China is among the countries suffering the
largest number of deaths from fireworks explosions. More than 130 people died in such
accidents nationwide last year. The worst occurred on December 30, when a blast at the
Changtu Firecracker Factory in Tieling City of Northeast China's Liaoning Province killed
36 people. |
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blast at a fireworks factory in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday
killed 27 people and wounded a further 59.