Chinese authorities have ordered a halt to production in all fireworksfactories in northern Hebei Province after a blast in one plant killed 29people and injured 91, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports. One survivor describedthe explosion as "like an earthquake."
All Hebei fireworks factories need overhauls and safety inspections, theofficial Xinhua news agency reported, citing an emergency meeting led byHebei's governor held after Monday's blast.
"It was like an earthquake. I couldn't see anything. The roof caved in," onesurvivor told RFA's Mandarin service. "My lower body was buried in therubble. I climbed my way out of the debris." Workers at the factory had noworkman's compensation insurance, he said.
The blast occurred at the Guoxi fireworks factory in the town of Wangkou.
Another local resident, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said"Hospitals No. 1 and No. 2 are full with the injured."
After a 2001 explosion that destroyed a southern China schoolhouse where parents claimed children had been forced to makefirecrackers, then-Premier Zhu Rongji issued an unprecedented apology onnational television for failing to protect public safety.