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Atleast 29 dead, 100 injured in China fireworks factory blast
Beijing, July 29: At least 29 people were killed and 107 injured in a huge explosion that ripped through a fireworks factory in northern China, state media and local officials said today.
Beijing, July 29: At least 29 people were killed and 107 injured in a huge explosion that ripped through a fireworks factory in northern China, state media and local officials said today.
The Xinhua news agency said the blast occurred just after 6:00 pm (1530 IST) yesterday in the Wangkou district of Xinji city in Hebei province and caused the factory, where 169 people were working, to collapse.
The death toll had climbed to 29 by today, with 91 of the injured still in hospital, Xinhua said.
The force of the explosion was so strong that it partly destroyed an office building more than 100 metres (330 feet) away while cars and motorcycles were set alight, the China News Service (CNS) said. More than 300 soldiers and police officers were at the scene, it added.
The large number of casualties overwhelmed the small clinic in Guoxi village, where the factory is located. "there are five to six doctors in the hospital and they all worked all night. They didn't get any sleep," said a staff member.
"We treated many people with light injuries, including burns and cuts. But the seriously injured had to be transferred to hospitals in the township and nearby Shijiazhuang city because we could not handle them."
Xinhua said that Hebei provincial governor Ji Runshi rushed to the scene to direct rescuers sifting through the rubble looking for survivors and clearing up the debris. CNS said that the factory was licensed and was authorized to begin production in December 2000, but local village officials sounded nervous, repeatedly telling AFP the factory was privately run and was not their responsibility.
Bureau Report
The death toll had climbed to 29 by today, with 91 of the injured still in hospital, Xinhua said.
The force of the explosion was so strong that it partly destroyed an office building more than 100 metres (330 feet) away while cars and motorcycles were set alight, the China News Service (CNS) said. More than 300 soldiers and police officers were at the scene, it added.
The large number of casualties overwhelmed the small clinic in Guoxi village, where the factory is located. "there are five to six doctors in the hospital and they all worked all night. They didn't get any sleep," said a staff member.
"We treated many people with light injuries, including burns and cuts. But the seriously injured had to be transferred to hospitals in the township and nearby Shijiazhuang city because we could not handle them."
Xinhua said that Hebei provincial governor Ji Runshi rushed to the scene to direct rescuers sifting through the rubble looking for survivors and clearing up the debris. CNS said that the factory was licensed and was authorized to begin production in December 2000, but local village officials sounded nervous, repeatedly telling AFP the factory was privately run and was not their responsibility.
Bureau Report