Firework ban after fatal spark

The manager of a Chinese fireworks factory caused a deadly explosion by using a scythe to cut fuses, it was revealed yesterday. Six people died at the factory in Yongzhou, Hunan province.

The manager, who was among the dead, was apparently trying to step up output in time for next month's Chinese New Year, when fireworks are in most demand, when his scythe caused a spark.

The plant was operating without a licence when the blast occurred on January 10. Eleven local officials have been punished and another 170 small factories in the area have been closed.

The neighbouring province of Jiangxi said after a string of similar accidents that it would ban fireworks production, putting more than 200,000 employees, and thousands of villagers who assemble fireworks in their homes, out of work.

An explosion there last month killed 14, officially, but local newspapers have published a list of 21 dead and allegations of a cover-up.

The ban is supposed to be enforced by the end of the year. Critics accuse the authorities of taking the easy way out.

"What laughable logic," a contributor to a website run by the official People's Daily wrote. "When accidents occur one should find out the cause, not use the blunt instrument of closure."

Other critics predict that the ban will never be enforced, citing similar examples in the mining industry, in which thousands of workers die every year.

Fireworks earn Jiangxi more than £30m a year in taxes. Hunan is another centre of production.