On the morning of June 16th around 8:23 am, an explosion occurred at a fireworks factory in Shanzhou Village, Tingxian Town, Linyi County, Changde City, Hunan Province. According to official reports, the explosion has resulted in the deaths of 9 people and injuries to 26.
The impact of the explosion was widespread, with residents within a 20-kilometer radius being able to feel the shockwaves created by the explosion.
Yang Youcai, a 54-year-old villager from Shanzhou Village, lives next to the fireworks factory separated by a small hill. When the explosion occurred, Yang was on his way back home driving his car. He suddenly heard a loud bang and initially thought it was a tire bursting. Then, pieces of cement bricks and metal sheets smashed into his car, causing the steering wheel to lose control as the car wobbled on the road. He looked up to see a huge mushroom cloud rising in the sky.
Following the initial explosion, he heard nearly twenty more blasts. Yang described, “There were five or six particularly loud blasts, like an earthquake, with the ground shaking.” Upon reaching his doorstep, he found that all the windows of his house had been shattered.
At that moment, Yang’s wife ran barefoot back home gasping for air. Due to rush orders at the factory, Yang’s wife had been called in as a temporary worker in the fireworks packaging workshop.
She told Yang that when the explosion happened, the metal wall of the outer packaging workshop they were in was pierced through, and dozens of people inside the workshop rushed out. She even lost her shoes in the chaos.
Liu Hai, who was at Linyi County People’s Hospital at the time, mentioned to the media that after hearing the loud bang, he rushed to the scene near the accident and saw that the windows of the houses had been shattered by the shockwaves of the explosion, and the tiles of the roofs had been blown off. People were running out of their houses, some covering their heads with towels, some with leg injuries.
Linyi County People’s Hospital stated that on that afternoon, the hospital admitted more than 30 trauma patients, mainly residents near the fireworks factory.
Yang stated, “This is the most severe explosion.” In previous years, he had heard explosions from the Shanzhou fireworks factory at home, but they were never of such magnitude, and there were no casualties among the villagers who went to work there.
As of 9 a.m. on June 17th, according to the rescue command of the Linyi Fireworks Factory explosion accident, the accident has resulted in 9 deaths and 26 injuries.
It was reported that on the day of the explosion, the highest temperature in Linyi County reached 36°C. Less than a week later, the fireworks and firecracker industry in Linyi County was scheduled to enter a period of collective production stoppage as a customary measure to prevent risks due to high temperatures.
Zhuo Teng, who lives near the Shanzhou fireworks factory, mentioned that this factory had been fined by relevant authorities for violating regulations but had not been closed for rectification.
The fireworks and firecracker industry is a traditional pillar industry in Linyi County. According to the Changde Daily, in 2024, the total output value of the county’s fireworks and firecracker industry chain reached 6 billion yuan, with 60,000 direct employees. Following the explosion accident, other fireworks factories in Linyi County have been urgently shut down.
Previous reports:
Explosion at a fireworks factory in Hunan leaves at least one injured and one missing
Multiple injuries reported in Hunan fireworks factory explosion as employees recall moments of escape.