Massive Explosion Rocks Illegal Chinese Fireworks Factory, at Least Two Dead

Just days after a dramatic explosion at a Mexican fireworks market killed 29 people, on Saturday another powerful explosion rocked a fireworks factory in Tangshan, a city in the northeastern Chinese province of Hebei. According to China National Radio, at least two people died in the in the blast. According to People’s Daily, the firecracker factory was illegal.

The explosion took place at 1 p.m. state media reported. Footage and photographs circulated on social media showed large plumes of smoke drifting over a cluster of houses, one of which had been reduced to rubble as a result of the blast. Rescue workers were at the scene.

The official Xinhua news agency said on its Twitter-like Weibo microblog that a preliminary investigation showed the explosion was caused by a private stash of fireworks. A suspect had already been detained by police, it said.

#BREAKING: Massive explosion hit an illegal firecrackers factory in N China’s Tangshan Sat noon, casualties unknown pic.twitter.com/2IQEOm41dg

— People’s Daily,China (@PDChina) December 24, 2016

The search and rescue operations are underway at the site.

Tangshan is a largely industrial city and is home to about 7.5 million people, according to a 2010 census. China is the world’s largest producer, consumer, and exporter of fireworks and firecrackers, according to the China Daily. There are about 4,000 producers of fireworks and firecrackers. In 2014, the industry ranked as the second-most deadly after coal mining.