By Bernama,
Beijing : Fourteen people were killed in explosions at two illegal fireworks plant over the weekend, with three weeks to the Lunar New Year celebrations when fireworks are in demand.
Thirteen died on Saturday in an abandoned kiln which was turned into a fireworks plant in eastern Shandong province, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The force of the blast also destroyed eight bungalows, a minibus and split trees in half.
In northern Hebei province, one person died in an explosion Sunday in another illegal fireworks plant which was converted from a workshop used to produce “Hell bank notes”, or lookalike currency bills that are burned for the dead.
Xinhua said that since mid-November, there had been three other explosions in illegal fireworks plants which claimed 10 lives and injured 10 others in Shandong, southern Guangdong and central Hunan provinces.
The Lunar New Year, known locally as the Spring Festival, falls on Jan 26.