8 dead in explosion and fire at fireworks store in China before Chinese New Year

Beijing — An explosion and fire at a fireworks store in eastern China killed eight people and left two others with minor burns ahead of the Chinese New Year, authorities said.

The Sunday afternoon explosion in a village in Jiangsu province was caused by a resident inappropriately setting off fireworks near the store, the Donghai county government said in a statement. He did not provide further details about what happened.

Setting off firecrackers at midnight on the Lunar New Year is a tradition in China, but many places have banned fireworks in recent years, at least in part because of air pollution.

They may return in some places after some governments eased their bans last year.

Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival in China, falls on a Tuesday. It will mark the beginning of the year of the horse in the Chinese zodiac.

Following Sunday’s explosion, the Ministry of Emergency Management urged all regions to strengthen supervision of the production, transportation, sale and use of fireworks to prevent future accidents.

A ministry statement said testing fireworks and firecrackers around stores should be strictly prohibited and called on local governments to identify and eliminate blind spots “to ensure that people have a safe, auspicious and happy Spring Festival.”