Society

Fireworks production halted after deadly explosion

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-03 19:23

XI'AN: Northwest China's Shaanxi province has suspended all fireworks production, after an explosion in a firecrackers factory claimed nine lives on the the New Year's Day.

A joint investigation team has found the the explosion of Xinping Firecrackers Co. Ltd. in Pucheng county has been caused by bad management, while the company was expediting production to seize more shares of the festive market.

More than 100 people were working when the blast went off. The explosion tore down all seven workshops of the company, which was only 500 meters from the nearest farmhouse of Yilong village.

The company boss Qu Pingxin, a native of Yilong village, surrendered himself to police Saturday, a day after he fled, said Zhi Jianfeng, deputy head and public security chief of Pucheng vounty.

Investigators say that the workshops were overcrowded and the workers were not well trained on safety production knowledge.

Four of eight injured were in serious condition. One has been discharged from hospital.

The county is traditionally a production base for the festive explosives, said Wang Zhaoyu, director of the county's Fireworks Administration Bureau.

He said the county has 30,000 people working for fireworks plants. The industry made 300 million yuan in 2009.

In 2009, six workers died in four explosion accidents in firework plants in the county, he said.

Cheng Jianlong, a production safety official in the county, said that the county government has encouraged mergers of family workshops since 2007 in order to upgrade the industry, and approved fireworks production licenses to 51 companies. Xinping is one of the licensed companies.