China urges safety checks for finale of Lunar New Year after deadly fireworks blast kills 21

China urges checks after deadly fireworks blast

BEIJING — China has issued an urgent order to local authorities to strengthen safety measures after an explosion triggered by Lunar New Year fireworks killed 21 people and injured 48 in a southern village.

The State Council’s Work Safety Commission said in a notice that authorities around the country should learn from the mistakes that caused the blast late Friday in the southern province of Guangdong, the deadliest accident of the 15-day Spring Festival.

The celebrations are set to end Sunday with a lantern festival. Fireworks are often a key part.

Last year, lantern festival fireworks sparked an inferno that destroyed a nearly completed hotel next to state broadcaster CCTV’s landmark new office building in downtown Beijing, leaving one firefighter dead. Earlier this month, fireworks started a blaze that destroyed a 1,600-year-old city gate in northern China, causing about 1 million yuan ($150,000) in financial losses.

The death toll from Friday’s explosion in a residential area rose to 21 by Sunday morning, Guangdong emergency authorities said in a statement. State media said authorities have so far identified 10 of the dead.

Thirteen bodies were found at the site while eight others died in hospitals from injuries. Among the remaining 48 people who were injured, six were in critical condition, the government said.

The provincial authority said an initial investigation found that a pile of fireworks were set off in an open space 30 yards (meters) from a residential building and that two people allegedly responsible for the blast have been detained by police.

State broadcaster CCTV said some of the fireworks that triggered the explosion were highly dangerous and only meant to be handled by professionals.

Television footage showed the explosion had ripped through a six-story apartment building, blowing out windows and a ground floor wall, covering one side of the structure in soot and completely melting the exterior of a car parked in front of it.