Second China fireworks factory blast kills 11
BEIJING (Reuters) - An explosion at a fireworks factory in north China killed 11 people and injured eight, the second such disaster in two days, state media said on Thursday.
Wednesday's blast hit the Xingtong Fireworks Co in a suburb of Yangquan in the coal-rich province of Shanxi, Xinhua news agency said.
"The cause of the blast and the number of workers at the site when it happened remain unclear," Xinhua said.
Rescue work was under way and no further bodies had been found buried under the debris, it added.
On Tuesday, an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory in the central province of Henan killed 13 villagers and injured six.
Also in Shanxi, five children were killed and one seriously wounded by a blast when playing in an abandoned firecracker factory on Sunday.
Blasts at fireworks makers, many unlicensed and in densely settled areas, are common in China where firecrackers are let off at weddings and other celebrations. Hundreds of such accidents cause about 450 deaths a year.
Separately, seven people died and one was missing after a chemical plant explosion in the eastern province of Jiangsu on Wednesday, the Southern Metropolis Daily said. (Reporting by Guo Shipeng, editing by Nick Macfie)
