A deadly explosion at a fireworks factory in Hunan Province has raised questions over whether staff had been concealing the plant’s safety hazards. Officials are now investigating what caused the blaze, which killed 13 people at the Nanyang Export Fireworks Factory near the city of Liling on September 22. Another 33 people were injured in the blast, four of whom are in serious condition. One person remains missing.
The factory was razed to the ground in a fire that lasted until the following morning, with explosions still being reported at 8am. Zhang Ping, who went to the site to look for his wife, saw this:
When I arrived at the site of the explosion, the sound was so loud it was rattling the heavens. There was a lot of fire at the factory with smoke everywhere. The roof of the factory had completely collapsed, and there was rubble everywhere.
The explosion was compounded by other problems in the village that day. When firefighters tried to drive to the factory, the six meter wide fire access road leading to the factory was blocked.
Resident Yi Jiacai said:
Originally, fire trucks could take this road to get to the factory for rescue; now, they had to take a detour in order to get to the scene.
Xia Ligen, who had a family member injured in the blast, said a dispute had arisen from the auctioning of the road in which local residents were harassed by criminal gangs.
The investigation into the cause of the factory explosion is still pending, but details have emerged revealing a systematic disregard for safety.
An unnamed person claimed:
Many hidden dangers of varying degrees exist at this firework factory. Any time officials come to make a safety inspection, the village cadre makes a phone call to notify the factory, and then all the workers leave.