China fireworks explosion kills 19

Saturday, February 27, 2010
BEIJING: Nineteen people were killed and 50 injured in southern China after a family celebrating the Lunar New Year with fireworks triggered an explosion, state media reported Saturday.

The blast occurred Friday night in a village in Guangdong province, a local news agency reported, as millions of people around the country continued to set off festive explosives to mark the beginning of the Year of the Tiger.

Thirteen people were killed in the explosion and six died later in hospital, the news agency said, citing a local public security official.

The report did not provide further details on the dead and injured, or say if the 50 hurt in the blast were still in hospital.

Police have detained two people over the incident, the report said.

A villager living about 200 metres from where the explosion happened said the force of the blast caused the doors and walls of his house to crack, the news agency said.

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