Fireworks Factory Explosion Kills 82
PEKING — Eighty-two people were killed when a store of dynamite exploded in a central China fireworks factory in April, the China Daily revealed Friday.
The blast, in Taoyuan, Hunan province, was the result of bad management and the flouting of safety regulations, the official newspaper reported.
It said the explosion set off a huge fire that spread quickly to other workshops and warehouses, trapping workers before they could escape.
Four minor explosions had occurred earlier in the factory, but authorities did nothing to improve safety conditions, enforce official safety guidelines or give special training to the workers, it said.
The Farmers Daily quoted a policemen in January as saying that China’s thousands of fireworks factories are death traps for their workers and people living nearby because of poor safety precautions.
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