Five dead, 38 injured in Philippine firecracker depot blast
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Follow topic:
MANILA – Five people, including a four-year-old, were killed in a massive explosion at a pyrotechnics warehouse in the southern Philippines, emergency services said on June 30.
The June 29 afternoon blast at the Zamboanga City site tore a large hole in the ground, sent debris flying into nearby buildings and houses and ignited a blaze, fire investigator Luigi Chan told AFP.
Four warehouse workers and the four-year-old son of one of the staff members were killed, Mr Chan said.
The city’s disaster office confirmed the death toll and said another 38 people had been injured in the incident, eight of them seriously.
The authorities said they are investigating the cause of the explosion, which created a 20m crater, dismantled the depot’s walls and rained rubble on a nearby soft-drink factory, a grain and flour warehouse and homes in the area.
“The most probable origin of the fire is the pyrotechnics stored at the warehouse,” Mr Chan told AFP.
He said the blast radius extended more than 3,000 sq m and it took firefighters more than two hours to bring the blaze under control. AFP
