The death toll from a fatal fireworks explosion ahead of the New Year in East China's Jiangxi Province has reached 14, according to a safety official.
Among those dead, 12 were female, the official with the provincial work safety office revealed Friday. Sixty-one people were injured.
The official, refusing to be named, said unheeding operation by one worker, who perished in the accident, was the cause of the blast occurring in the province's Wanzai County on December 30.
The deceased worker, Pan Xiaohua, accidentally ignited explosives while filling fireworks.
The blast caused other explosions in the workplace and storehouses. Successive waves brought massive damage to neighbouring areas and left 61 injured.
The injured are hospitalized and in stable condition, according to the official.
The local authority is considering a fair way to comfort and compensate those families affected by the blast.
On March 6 last year, an explosion in Fanglin Village Primary School in Wanzai County, which was the result of criminal activities, left 41 teachers and students dead and 27 injured.
The State Administration of Work Safety Supervision complained that the local work safety authority reported the explosion too late.
The official said the local authority is required to report the development of a disaster within six hours of its occurrence.
Now we still have no effective measures to stop their dereliction of duty, said the official.
( January 6, 2002)
