An explosion at a fireworks factory in Hunan province, southern China, has caused at least 21 deaths and 61 injuries, according to the latest report released this Tuesday by the state news agency Xinhua. The accident occurred Monday afternoon at a workshop of the fireworks manufacturing and display company Huasheng, located in Liuyang county, considered the heart of China’s pyrotechnic industry. The Asian giant exported fireworks worth about 990 million euros last year, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity cited by Reuters.
The blast occurred at 16:43 (local time, six hours less in mainland Spain) on Monday, although the news did not emerge until the evening. Initial official reports spoke of three dead and 25 injured, but early Tuesday, authorities raised the toll. State television, CCTV, reports that the injured have been taken to two hospitals for emergency treatment. The oldest is 68 years old and the youngest are in their twenties. Most have bone injuries, according to the public broadcaster.
Rescue teams continue inspecting the site at midday Tuesday, in an especially delicate operation due to the risk of new explosions. Authorities have established a three-kilometer control zone around the complex after detecting two black powder warehouses considered high risk.
Xinhua reports that the police have taken “control measures” against the person responsible for the company involved, a phrase that in the language of state media usually indicates that the person is in custody or under restrictions while the investigation progresses. The news agency adds that investigations into the causes of the accident and subsequent management efforts are ongoing.
The Hunan provincial government activated the emergency plan shortly after the detonation, according to official media. Xinhua reports that five rescue teams, with 482 personnel, were mobilized to locate survivors, evacuate the population from risk areas, and contain the risks of a new detonation inside the factory. The Ministry of Emergency Management has also sent experts to lead operations on the ground, and three robots have been deployed to scan the site alongside human teams.
Images released by state media show damaged buildings and smoking facilities, and emergency teams working through the night.
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“I heard a roar, ran out, and saw a mushroom-shaped cloud. When the explosion happened, the house was shaking. The glass of the doors and windows on the ground floor shattered,” a resident of Binghe village who asked to remain anonymous told Chinanews, according to that outlet. Her husband worked at the affected company as a transporter. “I had to call him four times until he answered. Half stunned, he told me the factory had exploded,” Chinanews reports. According to her testimony, her husband, who is now hospitalized, managed to get out by crawling. He has injuries on his back, head, arms, and face.
Although the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, the case has quickly escalated to the highest political level. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered an acceleration of the search for missing persons, care for the injured, clarification of what happened, and demanded “strict accountability.”
The tragedy reopens an old debate in the Asian giant: the tension between a traditional, lucrative industry closely linked to local identity, and the persistent safety problems in the production of explosive materials. The economic media Caixin recalls that the company involved had already been sanctioned this year for safety deficiencies. According to public records cited by Chinese media, the company was fined 15,000 yuan (about 1,800 euros) in February for irregularities related to the storage of incompatible chemical substances.
Liuyang, a county administered by the city of Changsha, the provincial capital, is known for the production of fireworks and firecrackers. A report by the People’s Daily published last year stated that Liuyang housed 431 fireworks and firecracker production companies, that the local industry reached a production value of 50.22 billion yuan (about 6.1 billion euros) in 2024, and that it represented around 60% of the national market and nearly 70% of China’s exports in the sector. The locality had already been the scene of serious accidents. In December 2019, another explosion at a similar factory caused 13 deaths and 13 injuries. Local authorities initially reported seven deaths, and the case led to sanctions and disciplinary measures against 29 officials for hiding victims and supervision deficiencies, as well as criminal measures against the company’s responsible parties.
