An explosion occurred at a fireworks factory in Henan on the first day of the Chinese New Year, claiming 36 lives and injuring 48 others.
The accident happened at a warehouse of the Lilin Village Fireworks Factory in Liqi town, Linzhou City, Henan Province. The explosion also tore down a factory building and a temple in the area. Most of the injured were tourists who were worshipping in the temple.
The factory is now suspended from production and it was not in production when the accident occurred, according to the State Administration of Work Safety. The fire has been put out. The cause of the accident is still under investigation and rescue work continues.
Li Yizhong, director of State Administration of Work Safety, had personally directed the rescue work from Beijing and issued six guidelines aimed at preventing any further explosions.
A villager who lives near the scene of the accident told the South China Morning Post that the explosion shattered windows in many homes in five neighbouring villages. "It sounded like an atomic bomb had gone off. People living within 20 square kilometres were all shocked by the deafening explosion," the villager told the newspaper.
The villager told the paper that people had asked local officials to ban fireworks factories in the area several years ago but the officials had ignored their call for safety concerns. "We are all very scared and angry because it was not the first time fireworks ignited in our town," the villager said, "At least five explosions occurred before, with each blast killing one to three people."
Sources: State Administration of Work Safety (30 January 2006, 31 January 2006), South China Morning Post (31 January 2006)
1 February 2006
The accident happened at a warehouse of the Lilin Village Fireworks Factory in Liqi town, Linzhou City, Henan Province. The explosion also tore down a factory building and a temple in the area. Most of the injured were tourists who were worshipping in the temple.
The factory is now suspended from production and it was not in production when the accident occurred, according to the State Administration of Work Safety. The fire has been put out. The cause of the accident is still under investigation and rescue work continues.
Li Yizhong, director of State Administration of Work Safety, had personally directed the rescue work from Beijing and issued six guidelines aimed at preventing any further explosions.
A villager who lives near the scene of the accident told the South China Morning Post that the explosion shattered windows in many homes in five neighbouring villages. "It sounded like an atomic bomb had gone off. People living within 20 square kilometres were all shocked by the deafening explosion," the villager told the newspaper.
The villager told the paper that people had asked local officials to ban fireworks factories in the area several years ago but the officials had ignored their call for safety concerns. "We are all very scared and angry because it was not the first time fireworks ignited in our town," the villager said, "At least five explosions occurred before, with each blast killing one to three people."
Sources: State Administration of Work Safety (30 January 2006, 31 January 2006), South China Morning Post (31 January 2006)
1 February 2006