By Tham Choy Lin, Bernama
Beijing : China today ruled out terrorism as the cause of a deadly fireworks blast that killed 24 people in the Gobi desert near the grape-growing city of Turpan in northwestern Xinjiang region.
The force of the explosion on Wednesday left five missing and razed seven of the eight trucks loaded with the old fireworks which were transported to the site for disposal.
DNA tests were conducted to identify the remains of the victims. Twenty-two died on the spot.
“This is the first serious accident that has ever happened in disposing of fireworks in China,” State Administration of Work Safety deputy director Sun Huashan was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
Turpan communist party secretary Sun Changhua said today that a terror attack or sabotage was ruled out, Xinhua reported.
Most of the victims were policemen, workers of a local explosive disposal company and journalists covering the event.
Xinhua said 13 of the fatalities, six of whom were of Han descent and the other ethnic minorities, have been identified.
Two of the victims were Zhou Jian, a journalist from the Turpan Radio Station, and Pan Fengqin, a woman who works with a local television.
Sun said the fireworks and other materials were stored in 904 boxes at a plant for the past 10 years and public security authorities decided to destroy them because of the risk of explosion under the dry weather in Turpan.
Sun is heading a central government team to investigate the accident.