2 Children Killed in China Fireworks Blast

Two children were killed in China in a weekend explosion at an illegal fireworks factory as authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on explosives after a string of deadly blasts, police said on Wednesday.

Saturday’s explosion tore apart a two-story building in Feixi county in the eastern province of Anhui, where the children, ages 5 and 6, were playing among 40 containers of half-finished fireworks, a local police official said.

Just two days earlier, Premier Zhu Rongji had apologized to the nation and pledged to tighten safety standards after a school explosion in the eastern province of Jiangxi killed at least 42 people, most of them children.

China officially blames that blast on a deranged suicide bomber, but students and relatives say children were being forced to make fireworks in classrooms.

Police say China has launched a crackdown on explosives following a series of blasts, both accidental and criminal.

Police in Anhui said the two children who died Saturday were not working in the fireworks factory, which was in a farmer’s home.

“They were not making fireworks,” said a police officer from Hefei, the provincial capital. “They went to the house to play.”

Illegal fireworks factories are common in the area, he said.

“This family was storing explosives and making fireworks in their house,” the officer said. “They did not have a license, so this was an illegal business.”

“People can make a lot of profit from this business,” he said. “Although the government has been fighting this for a long time, many peasants are still making fireworks in their homes.”

Local officials defend the cottage industry, saying families and schools need the money to pay for health care and education once provided free by the central government.

But in an effort to improve safety standards, police in the last few days have carried out inspections nationwide on people and companies using explosives, the China Police Daily reported.

China has been hit by a string of violent crimes and fatal accidents--many involving explosives--in recent months, raising concerns about safety standards and a breakdown of law and order.

In the most serious case, four explosions killed 108 people last week in the northern city of Shijiazhuang in an attack police have pinned on a deaf fugitive named Jin Ruchao.

Police have offered an $18,100 reward for Jin but have yet to make an arrest.

Many residents of Shijiazhuang say they suspect the blasts are linked to mass worker layoffs, organized crime or official corruption in the industrial city.

Following the blasts, President Jiang Zemin demanded that police step up the fight against crime, targeting those with complaints against the government and the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, a Hong Kong-based rights group said.

In a speech delivered to provincial leaders by telephone and video, Jiang called for tighter controls on explosives and guns, organized crime and migrant workers, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement.