The cause of the explosion is under investigation by local police who are also taking action against those responsible for oversight within the factory.
An immediate search and rescue operation was launched by local authorities following the explosion, deploying about 500 personnel, including medical personnel, to assist those who had been injured and provide search/rescue assistance. Residents living within a 3 km radius of the factory were ordered to evacuate their homes to ensure public safety.
Robots were used during the search process to locate individuals trapped in the damaged building. Humidity measures were put in place by the search/rescue teams around the site of the explosion to reduce the risk of another hazard occurring. Local authorities identified two of the gunpowder warehouses located at the factory site as hazardous to the ongoing search and rescue operation.
Visible evidence of damage exists beyond the factory walls as a result of the explosion in that the explosion caused windows in residential buildings to be destroyed, bent aluminum window frames, and twisted stainless steel doors. A resident approximately 1 km away from the factory stated that debris from the explosion was blasted into the road, forcing residents to take alternative routes to travel throughout their village, while another resident left her village entirely due to the incident. Injuries resulted from the explosion, ranging from 20 years old to those in their 60s with multiple bone injuries.
In response to the incident, President Xi Jinping stated that local authorities should conduct a full search & rescue operation to find those missing and to provide immediate medical assistance to those injured. Further, President Xi called for a complete investigation of the explosion to find those responsible for the incident and to hold those individuals accountable.
The prompt response of local officials to this incident noted the importance of the incident with regard to the potential for numerous casualties as well as the ongoing threat to future casualties associated with the abundance of gunpowder warehouses at the factory.
The city of Liuyang is known throughout the world for producing the most fireworks, which provides both an economic basis for the economy of Liuyang and continuing concerns about safety related to the fireworks produced within that city. Since the production of fireworks has a history of explosion-related accidents & deaths in China, it is becoming common to hear of incidents such as the one that occurred last week. In February of this year, a separate incident related to fireworks occurred in Hubei, resulting in 12 deaths due to the explosion.
This most recent incident will again raise questions regarding the safety standards and regulatory oversight within China's fireworks production business, which continues to be a major supplier of fireworks on a global basis but has a history of ongoing hazards to the workers of that industry and the residents of the areas in which the fireworks factories are located.
