An explosion at a firework plant claimed ten lives
and left four other people injured in Anhua County of central
China's Hunan
Province on Thursday, according to local government
sources.
Li Huashan, director of the Anhua work safety
supervision bureau, told Xinhua News Agency that the blast occurred
at about 5:00 PM, first in one workshop before setting off further
explosions in another six of Jiangnan Fireworks Plant.
It has devastated an area of approximately 500
square meters and all the workshops have been reduced to
debris.
One of those injured was reported to still be in a
serious condition at 9:30 PM.
According to Li, there are 17 fireworks plants in
Anhua, eight of which have already been closed for safety
reasons.
An investigation into the cause of the accident is
underway.
(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2005)