Chinese authorities are carrying out rescue operations but the efforts have been complicated by a risk of additional explosions and the lack fo a large water source nearby.

An explosion at a fireworks factory in a village in central China’s Hunan province has left at least nine people dead and 26 others injured, state-run National Radio said.

The blast occured at 8:23 am local time (0:23 GMT) in the Hunan province on Monday. The reported death toll was as of 9 am (0:53 GMT) Tuesday, with rescue operation still ongoing.

The radio channel reported a “complicated” rescue effort as there was a risk of additional explosions. Moreover the factory was in a “mountanous area with no large water source.”

“During more than 20 hours of uninterrupted and continuous rescue, the rescue team used remote-controlled water cannons to extinguish the fire,” the report said.

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management had sent a team to the Hunan province to oversee the rescue, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

“Efforts must be made to ascertain the cause of the explosion as soon as possible and to hold those responsible accountable,” the ministry reportedly said.

China’s deadly history of industrial accidents
Industrial accidents are a regular occurance in China due to lax safety standards.

Just last month, at least five people died in an explosion in a chemical plant blast in the eastern Shandong province.

In 2019, at least 44 people died in a chemical plant firein Jiangsu. In November of 2018, at least 22 died in a similar accident Zhangjiakou while 19 died in a chemical plant blast months before in the southwestern Sichuan province.

In 2015, blasts at warehouses containing flammable chemicals in the port city of Tianjin killed more than 170 people.

Edited by: Zac Crellin

DW News