Fires and explosions

Citation

(2002), "Fires and explosions", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 11 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2002.07311dac.002

Fires and explosions

Fires and explosions

6 August 2001, Ervadi, India

Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu say at least 25 patients have died in a fire at a privately-run mental asylum. Many of those killed had been chained to their beds, leaving them no means of escape when flames engulfed the thatched structure early today. Police at the scene have so far recovered 25 bodies. The blaze in Ervadi, some 500 km south of the state capital, Chennai, has now been put out. Its cause has yet to be established. However, one report said a man running the asylum had been detained for questioning. "Only a few people managed to escape," local police inspector Palai Swamy told the French news agency AFP. So far the bodies of 14 men and 11 women have been found. Another five of the 53 residents were seriously injured. Police said the home, which was run by a religious charity, was not registered by the local authorities.

7 August 2001, Coal mine, Vulcan, Romania

An explosion in a coal mine in western Romania killed 14 miners early today, local media reported. At least two other miners were treated for injuries at nearby hospitals, including one for serious burns. The explosion occurred at about 0300 hrs in the Vulcan mine, about 180 miles north-west of Bucharest. Mine officials said it was sparked by methane gas which ignited. State radio and the national news agency said 14 miners were killed in the explosion. Rescue workers rushed to the mine to retrieve the bodies. Dozens of miners refused to go to work after the accident.

16 August 2001, Katpadi, India

At least 25 people were killed and several wounded today in an explosion at a government-owned detonator manufacturing unit in a south Indian town. The blast occurred in the explosives depot in Katpadi, 200 kilometres south-west of Madras, officials said. "We have so far recovered four bodies from the blast site. There were 30 persons on duty inside the depot at the time of the blast," said B. Mohandas, collector of Vellore district. "We have reports that another four workers were seriously injured," Mohandas said. The reasons behind the explosion are not yet known. The state government has ordered an inquiry into the accident. It has also announced monetary compensation for the families of the dead and wounded persons. Police fear the death toll could rise further. The depot belonged to the government-owned Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Ltd.

18 August 2001, Hotel, Quezon City, Philippines

At least 75 people, most of them members of the "God's Flock" Christian sect, died today in a pre-dawn fire that ripped through a Philippine hotel, officials said. The group, from several rural provinces, was staying at the budget, six-storey Manor Hotel in Quezon City while attending a "Dawn Flower Destiny Conference" for born-again Christians in Manila. Many of the victims, including children, died of suffocation in their rooms as they were overcome by thick fumes and unable to escape due to a lack of fire exits. The fire, believed to have been caused by an electrical fault, started at 0430 hrs (2030, UTC, yesterday) on the third floor of the hotel and spread quickly to several other floors, police said. Many of the 200-odd guests were trapped by the lack of fire exits. At the height of the three-hour blaze, scores of trapped guests were seen weeping and waving to firemen along the hotel's balcony, crying for help and shaking grilles and iron bars on their windows. Mr Johnny Yu, Metro Manila director for civil defence, said "unconfirmed reports so far showed 70 people had died, many of them adults ranging from 30 to 40 years of age". A duty officer at the National Disaster Management Centre said no foreigners were on the initial list of casualties reported. Firemen had to train their hoses on desperate guests crowding along the balconies, waiting for help as waves of fire spread behind them. They used special saws to cut the grilles before rescuing the victims using long ladders mounted on fire engines. President Gloria Arroyo has called for an investigation into the cause of the fire and ordered the local government to co-ordinate with the social welfare department to assist the victims. Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina said the building permits of the hotel would be "scrutinised", following reports of structural defects and a lack of adequate emergency exits. His office would also look into reports that only two months ago, the hotel was found to have flouted the building code and was given 15 to 30 days to rectify any lack of facilities.

20 August 2001 – Authorities today filed criminal charges against the owner of a budget hotel which caught fire over the weekend, killing 73 people and injuring 51, officials said. Supt Danilo Cabrera of the Bureau of Fire Prevention charged businessman William Genato with reckless endangerment resulting in multiple deaths and injuries in connection with Saturday's (August 18) blaze. The charge carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison plus fines and compensation.

He said the budget Manor Hotel in the Manila suburb of Quezon City had no emergency alarms, properly functioning fire-fighting equipment or adequate escape routes. Authorities said they warned Genato a year ago to make changes. A subsequent inspection showed the changes had not been made but the hotel continued to operate. Cabrera said he also ordered the temporary closure of Sir William's Hotel, another Quezon City establishment owned by Genato, today after an inspection turned up several fire code violations. Interior Secretary Jose Lina said investigators may charge some officials related to accusations of negligence in building inspections. Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte said today that he fired the city's chief engineer, building inspector and business permits chief pending investigation. Police have been unable to find Genato since the fire Saturday morning but authorities said he contacted police and said he would surrender as soon as charges were filed against him. Most of the victims of Saturday's blaze, who succumbed to smoke inhalation, were trapped between a smoky corridor and the burglar bars on the hotel room windows. A 73rd victim died this morning of smoke inhalation injuries sustained during the fire, Belmonte said. He said 51 were injured and about 20 are still in hospital. Fire officials said a short-circuit in the ceiling of a third-floor stock-room sparked the blaze. Thick smoke spread quickly through the stairways and ventilation shaft and accumulated in the upper floors, where most of the victims were sleeping. The hotel's power was cut during the fire. Without emergency lights in the smoke-filled corridors, the victims apparently panicked in their rooms, where they were later overwhelmed and killed by the fumes. Nobody used the fire exits, which may have been difficult anyway because of faulty construction, officials said. The concrete structure was apparently built in the late 1970s and may have previously been damaged by fire, local officials said. It was apparently not originally designed as a hotel – there were no windows on the rear – and had some permanent occupants.

25 August 2001 – Police in the Philippines are pressing criminal charges against nine people in connection with a fire at a Manila hotel which killed more than 70 people last week. The nine, who include owner William Genato and his wife Rebecca, stand accused of "reckless imprudence" which resulted in the deaths of guests staying at the Manor Hotel, located in a Manila suburb. Officials investigating the blaze say the hotel lacked fire alarms, sprinkler systems and adequate fire exits, and that management had ignored previous instructions to improve safety standards. The charges are to be investigated by the public prosecutor's office, which has until next month to decide whether to arrest the nine hotel shareholders or dismiss the case. The charges filed by police carry prison terms of up to six years as well as hefty fines and compensation payments. Mrs Genato has already denied the allegations. "We had fire extinguishers, alarm systems and we had fire hoses. Our fire exits were complete," she told Manila's ANC television. Several public officials could also face charges over possible negligence during fire inspections or failure to enforce adequate safety regulations at the hotel. Nine officials, including the city's fire marshal, have already been removed from their jobs since the blaze. Fire officials believe that a short circuit in a stockroom on the third floor started the fire, which broke out early last Saturday (August 18). Most of the dead were Filipino members of an evangelical Christian sect, which was holding a week-long conference in the suburban Quezon City. Bars which covered the hotel's windows trapped the guests in their rooms and severely impeded the rescue mission, as fire-fighters had to cut through metal to reach those inside. Many of the bodies were found in bathrooms where the victims had apparently tried to douse themselves with water as thick smoke filled the building and temperatures rose. Only one body was charred, suggesting that most victims died of asphyxiation.

20 August 2001, Coal mine, Ukraine

Fire raging deep in a Ukrainian coal mine after a gas explosion which killed 36 was hampering efforts today to rescue an unknown number of miners still possibly trapped inside, officials said. Teams of rescuers renewed efforts to reach the scene of yesterday's blast which ripped through a shaft at the Zasyadko mine near the centre of the eastern city of Donetsk, as distraught relatives gathered outside, anxious for news. "The fire is still burning fiercely," said a duty officer for Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry in the capital Kiev. "We don't know exactly how many could be trapped down there." Rescue workers had said yesterday that up to 14 miners could be stuck in searing heat near the fire which broke out after three explosions in labyrinthine passages more than 1 km underground. Mykhailo Klyagin at the Donetsk Rescue Workers centre said late yesterday that temperatures of between 60-80 Celsius had prevented rescue teams getting closer than within 100 metres of the site of the explosion. "We need special equipment because the fire is very deep down," he said. "We cannot use water (to douse the flames) because we do not want to flood the mine." Officials said 259 miners were underground when a mixture of gas and coal dust exploded mid-morning yesterday. The Inter commercial television station reported that the mine had been rushing to meet its yearly quota of four million tonnes of coal.

21 August 2001 – Rescuers today gave up all hope of finding ten Ukrainian coal miners who had been trapped by a weekend pit explosion and fire deep below ground. That brought the death toll to 47 in the blast at Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. "Those ten people, by now there will be nothing left of them. They will have been burnt," said Anatoly Zabolotny, deputy head of the emergency department at the Fuel and Energy Ministry. "So there are a total of 47 dead." A methane and coal-dust blast ripped through a shaft at the Zasyadko mine near the city centre on Sunday (August 19). Thirty-six bodies were recovered and one of the 43 injured died today of severe burns. Eight more were still in a critical condition. Officials said 259 men had been in the mine at the time of the mid-morning explosion near an air vent more than 1 km below ground. No cause has yet been determined. Zabolotny said rescue workers would clear the shaft in five days and then experts would be able to investigate the site of the blast.

23 August 2001 – Two coal workers severely burned in a Ukrainian coal mine explosion died in a hospital today, bringing the death toll in the powerful weekend blast to 39, emergency officials said. Ten other miners remain missing and are presumed dead. Rescue workers struggling to put out the four-day-old blaze at the Zasiadko mine in the city of Donetsk held out little hope of finding survivors. A total of 36 miners remained hospitalised, 15 in serious condition. Rescuers were focusing on trying to contain the fire and control temperatures at the disaster site some 4,200 ft below the earth's surface. Emergency officials have said it could take days to extinguish the blaze. Officials said a combination of self-igniting coal and high levels of methane gas caused a series of explosions Sunday morning.

1 September 2001, Tokyo, Japan

At least 41 people have died and dozens more were critically injured in an explosion and fire in a busy Tokyo entertainment district. A police spokesman said the death toll is expected to rise even further. Public broadcaster NHK television reported that 16 men and five women had been killed. Seiji Ito, a Tokyo fire department spokesman, said the cause of the explosion and fire at what appeared to be a gambling den is under investigation. NHK says the injured have been taken to 15 hospitals in the area. Fire-fighters are checking to see if any people are still in the building. Reports say the fire is centred on the third and fourth floors. Many of the injured suffered burns, while others were hurt when they jumped out of the building fleeing the fire. Kyodo news agency say the building included a number of restaurants and sex shops. The blast tore open a hole 6in by 5ft in the side of the building.

1 September 2001 – A broken gas pipe may give a clue to the cause of a catastrophic explosion and fire in a busy Tokyo entertainment district, which left 44 dead. Fire officials said they had found the pipe near the door of the Ikkyu mahjong gaming parlour, where the blast occurred about 0100, local time, today. Police are also investigating the possibility of arson. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has called for a full investigation. Severe burns and carbon monoxide poison were given by police as the causes of the victims' deaths. Three people who jumped from the fourth floor roof of the building were injured, but expected to survive. The explosion occurred when an employee of the gaming parlour opened a door. Police said the explosion ripped a hole measuring 1.5 metres by 50 centimetres in the wall of the building. The dead were 32 men and 12 women. The building, in the Kabukicho entertainment district near Shinjuku railway station, housed the gaming parlour, sex clubs and several restaurants. People found it hard to flee the fire because there were few windows and only one entrance to the building. Fire-fighters said that fire doors did not shut properly, and there were no emergency ladders on the second and third floors of the buildings. The extreme heat hampered the fire-fighters' efforts. Most of the victims died on the top, fourth floor, where clients were packed into a hostess bar. Many were rushed to hospital, but were declared dead on arrival. Witnesses said they had heard a loud bang before smoke started emerging from the building. People in the parlour fled to the roof as the fire spread through the third and fourth floors. The top two floors were destroyed by the fire, which took five hours to put out.

4 September 2001 – A stairway full of garbage and old newspapers may have sparked a deadly weekend fire that killed 44 people in Tokyo's most popular entertainment district, Japanese news media reported today. Authorities are still investigating arson as a possible cause for the blaze, which swept through the top two floors of a narrow four-story building early Saturday (September 1) morning and burned out a mah-jongg parlour and a bar. A gas leak had been suspected, but inspectors from Tokyo Gas Co. have said they found no cracked pipes or faults with the gas meter. With that possibility ruled out, the focus has turned to whether the fire started in a pile of trash stashed in a stairway where the blaze is believed to have broken out, various reports said. The owner of the third-floor gambling parlour reportedly heaped old newspapers, hand towels and other garbage there. Police suspect that something – or someone – may have ignited the trash, and their investigation will focus on analysing ashes collected from the stairway, according to the reports. Speculation is mounting that arson may have been behind the blaze. The Japanese media have reported that the mah-jongg club may have had trouble with gangsters, and that police were looking into whether the fire may have been related to that. The Asahi newspaper said that the club also operated slot machines and that employees told investigators that they had difficulties with organised crime groups, which are heavily involved in gambling in Japan. Fire department officials have blamed the high death toll on the building's faulty alarm system, lack of a fire escape and the crowded conditions inside. Nearly everyone in the club and bar, most in their 20s and 30s, died. Three survivors jumped three stories from the mah-jongg club to the ground below.

4 September 2001, Coal mine, Xinjiang Province, China

A gas explosion killed ten coal miners in China's northwest, a local official said today, adding to a mounting death toll in China's mining industry. The blast occurred at about 2100, Saturday (September 1) in Hoboksar, a town in the Xinjiang region near the Russian border, said Na Cike, an official of the county government. The cause is under investigation, he said.

15 September 2001, Coal mine, Datong, China

A gas explosion in China has killed at least 23 miners in a northern coal mine. The Xinhua News Agency said a searches is under way for others still missing. Some 33 people were rescued from the small mine in Datong, a city in Shanxi province, following the explosion. More than 60 miners were working in the mine at the time. The news agency says the mine owner and a foreman fled after the accident

19 September 2001, Coal mine, Hunan Province, China

Nine miners are missing and feared dead three days after a gas explosion ripped through a small coal mine in China's southern province of Hunan, an industry official said today. "All nine miners in the mine have been missing since Sunday's (September 16) blast," an official with the Coal and Charcoal Administration of Lianyuan, a city 90 miles west of the provincial capital of Changsha, said. "Scorching heat and lack of air down there have foiled all rescue efforts so far. We fear all the nine miners are dead," the official said. Police were questioning the owner of the privately run pit, he said.

29 September 2001, Hotel, Kashmir, India

Indian Police say a fire has raged through a hotel in Kashmir, killing 14 people and injuring 12 others. The blaze happened at the New Light hotel in Sopore, 33 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state. Ashok Bhan, the state's Inspector General of Police said: "The fire seems to have been caused by either an electrical short circuit or the bursting of a cooking gas cylinder." Officials said the victims were traders from different northern Indian states who had travelled to the area for work.

24 October 2001, Gotthard Tunnel, Switzerland

Two lorries have crashed head-on inside a Swiss road tunnel, starting a major blaze, police say. The French news agency AFP quoted police as saying that several people had been killed in the accident, in the Gotthard Tunnel in the south of the country. Parts of the tunnel have collapsed, a police spokesman in the local Ticino region said. Intense heat and dense smoke were preventing rescuers reaching the scene, the spokesman said. Reports say one of the lorries was carrying tyres, which caught fire, sending black smoke billowing from the scene. The tunnel, 15km long, links Zurich with northern Italy. People living at the southern end of the tunnel have been warned to stay indoors and close their windows in case the smoke was toxic.

24 October 2001 – A head-on truck crash and fire in a major Alpine tunnel killed at least ten people. Officials say safety features prevented a much worse disaster. The death toll in the Gotthard Tunnel could rise to 20. Rescuers are waiting for the heat to abate so they can reach a final 200-metre stretch, said Benno Buehlmann, chief of the chemical department of Uri canton (state). "Without the safety shelters we would have many more victims on our hands," said Buehlmann. Several people were killed by poison gases in their cars, and others as they tried to reach the shelters, he said. Six people were treated for smoke inhalation in a hospital on the southern side of the tunnel, officials say. Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger says "many people were able to escape" thanks to the ventilation system and emergency exits and shelters every 250 metres. Leuenberger, who is also transportation minister in charge of Switzerland's tunnel system, says the security features in the world's second-longest road tunnel, apparently averted a much worse death toll. Rescue workers were deployed within a minute of the crash as dense smoke fuelled by a load of tyres on one of the trucks billowed out of the 10.6-mile tunnel, officials say.

25 October 2001 – Around 80 people are still missing following the inferno in Switzerland's Gotthard Tunnel, raising fears that the number killed in the disaster could rise significantly from the ten confirmed deaths. Rescue workers are still battling through intense heat to try to reach the crash site, more than 24 hours after two lorries collided head-on, sparking the fatal blaze. It is not known if those missing had been travelling in the tunnel at the time of the accident. There are fears that people may have been trapped in their vehicles after the fire caused part of the tunnel's roof to collapse. There was added chaos this morning when a crash on the main alternative route – the San Bernardino pass – led Italian authorities to close the border crossing at Chiasso. "We still have 80 people unaccounted for," Romano Piazzini, head of police in the canton of Ticino, told a news briefing. He said the number was being constantly revised and had fallen from around 200 yesterday. Officials yesterday had suggested the total number of casualties might be around 20. The bodies of six people were found on the road and four more in their vehicles, a police spokesman said. They are thought to have suffocated from the fumes. Fire-fighters have still not been able to reach around 500 metres of the 15 kilometre-long tunnel where the fire continues to rage. About 150 rescuers worked through the night but Swiss authorities say they still do not know how many vehicles remain trapped in the tunnel. Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger said many people had escaped using the ventilation system and emergency exits linking to a service tunnel. The tunnel's safety measures are also believed to have saved lives. Automatic barriers stopped any more traffic from entering the tunnel, ventilation systems switched to their emergency settings and rescue workers were alerted within minutes.

29 October 2001 – Forensic experts were to enter the Gotthard tunnel today to start sifting through the debris of vehicles incinerated in Switzerland's worst tunnel road disaster, which killed at least 11 people. The number missing from the blaze, which destroyed parts of the 17km tunnel after two trucks crashed on Wednesday (October 24) continued to fall. Police said today there were now only 29 people unaccounted for, down from the 35 reported yesterday. "We're still missing 29 people but we're expecting that number to decline during the day," Giovanni Dado, police spokesman in the canton of Ticino, said. Swiss police said it was unlikely the death toll would rise much above the 11 confirmed dead. The number of missing was inflated by anxious relatives and friends calling more than one emergency number. Two hundred people were initially listed as missing but they have steadily been accounted for. Recovery efforts today focused on a 50-metre stretch of tunnel surrounding the immediate crash scene, termed the "red zone". The trucks' head-on collision sparked an inferno that quickly consumed ten other vehicles – five trucks and five cars. "We expect the forensic experts to begin their work today to see if there are any further victims or any body parts. We hope there will be no more, but we need to check under the wreckage of the cars," Dado said. The disaster has closed off one of the most crucial north-south arteries in Europe, causing serious congestion on alternative routes across the Alps. The Gotthard, the world's second longest tunnel, was expected to remain closed for months, cutting a major link between Italy and northern Europe used by an average of 19,000 vehicles a day. Repair work will only begin in mid-November after the police investigation is completed and all the wreckage removed. The shutting of the artery will add to transit problems across the Alps created by the closure of the Mont Blanc tunnel between northern Italy and France. French and Italian transport ministers said on Friday that the Mont Blanc tunnel, shut since a crash killed 40 people in 1999, would reopen for cars from December 15 with trucks due to return a few weeks later. Inside the Gotthard tunnel, engineers completed work on Saturday to shore up the roof, parts of which collapsed in the blaze. Police officials said they were still trying to figure out the exact cause of the accident.

21 December 2001 – Switzerland's St Gotthard road tunnel, a key north-south link through the Alps, has reopened nearly two months after a fire killed 11 motorists there. Today's re-opening is only for cars, but lorries will be allowed through from early tomorrow. The tunnel now has strict new safety measures in place, but some local people are unhappy with the decision to re-open the route. Since the Mont Blanc tunnel was closed in 1999 following another fire there, the St Gotthard road has been used as the major transport link across the Alps and its closure has caused traffic chaos across Europe. Lorries will have to travel 150 yards apart and the tunnel will only open to them in one direction at a time. The numbers of lorries that can travel through the tunnel daily has also been reduced from 5,500 to 3,500. Some local people have voiced opposition to the reopening, fearing queues of traffic and noise pollution. There have been calls for a second tube to be added to the St Gotthard tunnel to relieve pressure on the route, but the Swiss Government insists that the better solution is to transfer all trans-Alpine road freight to rail.

25 October 2001, Army Depot, Pak Chong, Thailand

At least 13 people were killed and 60 others injured when dozens of blasts rocked an army ammunition warehouse complex in north-eastern Thailand, Interior Minister Purachai Piemsombun said. The series of blasts were set off by an accident involving a truck loaded with explosives which blew up in the Nakhon Ratchasima ammunition warehouse. The explosions are believed to have destroyed much of the Thai military's arsenal stored in the warehouse. Army officials told reporters the arsenal stores bullets, gunpowder, landmines and other artillery. The exploding ammunition – some is said to be still live – scattered as far as one kilometre from the blast site. A nearby textile factory that was hit went up in flames. The casualties were mostly people working or living in the army camp at the time – the first victim was reportedly a 70-year old man who died of a heart attack. The injured have since been transferred to provincial hospitals to get them away from the explosion zone. At least 2,000 people within a 20-kilometre radius were evacuated, including children from a local school. Military investigations have begun, with officials saying they have ruled out any possibility of the incident being a terrorist attack. Thai army television has called on the people to donate blood to help treat the injured.

29 October 2001 – Ten people were confirmed dead and eight presumed dead after a series of blasts that destroyed a Thai munitions warehouse last week and scattered ammunition around the surrounding countryside, officials said today. The Interior Ministry's National Rescue Centre said in a statement most of the 3,200 villagers evacuated from their homes near the blast site had now returned. A truck loaded with explosives blew up at the arsenal last Thursday (October 25), setting off a chain reaction of blasts that lasted for several hours and destroyed eight ammunition depots and several nearby homes in Pak Chong in Nakorn Ratchasima province, 260 km north-east of Bangkok. Ammunition and ordnance – some of it live – was scattered around the area, including on a nearby highway. A fire broke out at a nearby textile factory after it was hit by exploding ammunition. The arsenal at Pak Chong stored bullets, gunpowder, shells and landmines. The rescue centre said in the statement the blast left four people seriously injured and wounded 65 people

1 December 2001 – The massive explosions at the army's Pak Chong arsenal in Nakhon Ratchasima caused damage estimated at about baht one billion, an army source said. The estimate was made by a panel investigating the damage caused by the October 25 blasts which killed 17 people and injured 90 others. The source said clean-up operations were expected to take a further four months with a 2km area around the depot declared off-limits. Yesterday about ten villagers affected by the blasts complained about unfair treatment from the Social Welfare Department. The Prompradit villagers claimed they did not receive any compensation, food or clothes after the explosions. Klin Mee-on said a request by the villagers was turned down by the social welfare office. She said she had been told a three-million-baht compensation fund had run out on November 26.

30 October 2001, Police Station, Dubai

Fourteen people have died in a fire at a police station in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai police said a group of prisoners who were planning to escape set light to a foam mattress. Police said thick smoke quickly enveloped the cells, suffocating the 14 men. At least 15 others, including three police officers, were being treated in hospital. They were said to be in a stable condition. Most of the detainees were in custody pending drugs cases against them. They were being detained in a special wing of Bur Dubai police station, in the south of the city. The victims were believed to include seven UAE nationals, two Iranians, two Afghans and three stateless nomadic Arabs, according to officials. Some prisoners tried to escape during the confusion but were all recaptured, officials said. The Public Prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the incident.

15 November 2001, Coal mine, Jiaocheng County, China

A pocket of gas exploded in a coal mine in central China, killing 33 miners, state media and a mine bureau employee reported today. Twelve miners escaped from the shaft after the blast occurred Thursday (November 15) night, the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily reported. It said the naturally occurring gases built up because of a lack of ventilation in a new mine shaft in Shanxi province's Jiaocheng county. The shift foreman and gas safety inspector were among those killed, the newspaper said.

20 November 2001, Coal mine, Shanxi Province, China

Twelve of 14 coal miners trapped underground by a weekend gas explosion in northern China have contacted rescuers twice by telephone, the official Xinhua news agency said. The explosion, one of a series of deadly blasts last week, rocked the Daquanwan mine in Shanxi province on Saturday (November 17) when 22 miners were working underground, eight of whom escaped to the surface, Xinhua said in an overnight report seen today. Two miners working near the site of the explosion were thought to be dead while the other 12 were trapped but alive underground, Xinhua said. The Shanxi government has ordered all small coal mines in the province to stop work until urgent safety tests are carried out after 58 miners were killed in a spate of gas explosions last week, Xinhua said yesterday. The number cited by the official news agency was higher than estimates given by local newspapers earlier in the day and involved explosions at three separate coal mines in the province. In a separate report issued yesterday, Xinhua said that 13 workers were still trapped after a coal mine flooded with water in the eastern province of Shandong over the weekend. Local officials said today they were still pumping water from the mine and had not yet found any bodies.

25 November 2001. Eighteen coal miners have been killed in an explosion in a Shanxi mine operating in defiance of shutdown orders issued last week after a series of deadly blasts across the province. Nine men remain trapped after Thursday's (November 22) explosion in the Qiaojiagou coal mine, owned by the Zhongyang county Government in the west of Shanxi, but rescuers held out little hope they would be found alive. Four blasts last week claimed 72 lives, causing Beijing to send a safety- inspection team to the province. Governor Liu Zhenhua had ordered all mines run by villages and counties to shut by Tuesday (November 20) pending safety checks. That order was extended yesterday to city and provincial government mines, leaving only mines run by the central Government operating in Shanxi, home to China's biggest coal reserves. Three operators of the Qiaojiagou mine were detained and 22 miners were being treated for burns and breathing problems, Xinhua reported. It said 54 miners had been digging a tunnel from one level to another when a gas explosion occurred. About 1,100 mine-safety inspectors have been sent across the province on a one-month safety campaign. However, local officials said more disasters were inevitable. State media yesterday blamed lax safety measures and protectionism by local governments for the accidents, which began ten days ago, when 11 miners died in Yangquan. Thirty-three were killed in Jiaocheng the next day, 14 were feared dead in Datong on Saturday, and 14 in Jincheng on Sunday. A state official yesterday refused to say whether provincial leaders would be punished for the accidents. Premier Zhu Rongji has promised to sack local officials held responsible for major accidents.

26 November 2001, Homes, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A massive fire has destroyed the homes of thousands of illegal slum dwellers in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Officials said there were reports of several deaths, but numbers have not been confirmed. Police believe the fire was started when a natural gas container exploded inside a kitchen. The fire spread quickly through the ramshackle wood and thatch buildings, destroying up to 2,000 homes. "A lot of people could not escape," said 26-year-old Khan Rom, who fled with her two children and a few personal belongings. The deputy police chief of Phnom Penh, Kong Saran, said more than 1,000 homes were destroyed in the fire, which broke out at 1540, local time, today. "The place is also crammed with dwellings which intensified the fire and cut off access to fire trucks," he said. "We don't know how it started but we are going to investigate and find out." Devastated deputy governor for the Chamkarmon district, Kuoch Chamroeun, said district and commune officials have asked city officials for food and shelter assistance. The area was still on fire as night fell, but appeared to be under control. Attempts to sift through the wreckage would begin until tomorrow morning, officials said. The destroyed area, close to the Bassac River, is home to a large ethnic Vietnamese community.

26 November 2001, Mont Blanc Tunnel, France

French and Italian transport officials are meeting this week to finalise the details of the reopening of the Mont Blanc tunnel on December 15. The tunnel has been closed since the fire which killed 39 people in March 1999. In December cars will be allowed through and a month later the route will be open to lorries. The decision to reopen has been made despite protests from locals and environmentalists who have demanded that lorries be banned from the tunnel. But French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot says safety has been increased and environmental concerns have been taken into account. "There will be fewer trucks using the tunnel than before the catastrophe due to the restrictions that we have put in place," he said. These include: a laser-radar to quantify the traffic levels; a new system that can close off the area around an accident; an air quality control system that monitors carbon monoxide and can bring in more oxygen if needed; a pedestrian escape route under the road; lorries will only travel in one direction.

15 December 2001, Coal mine, Lianyuan, China

An explosion in an unlicensed coal mine in central China has killed 11 people, just two months after local officials were criticised for their slowness in shutting illegal mines, the Xinhua news agency said today. The gas explosion and resulting fire on Wednesday (December 12) killed 11 miners working underground at the small Lianyi Coal Mine in Hunan province's Lianyuan City, it said. Officials were still investigating the cause of the accident, Xinhua said. Hunan provincial officials had criticized Lianyuan for moving slowly to close illegal mines, it said.

30 December 2001, Fireworks factory, Huangmao, China

Nine people were killed and 46 injured in a series of explosions which ripped apart a fireworks factory in the south-east Chinese province of Jiangxi today. An initial explosion in a warehouse set off a series of blasts which destroyed ten of the 11 separate buildings within the factory complex, in Huangmao town of Wanzai district. Only the building containing the factory's offices was left standing. The factory belongs to a company called Panda, which exports fireworks, Xinhua news agency said. Shockwaves from the blasts could be felt 60 kilometres away in the regional capital, according to a resident quoted by the Yangcheng Evening News from Guangzhou.

1 January 2001 – Latest reports from China say more than 40 people died in Sunday's (December 30) huge explosion at a fireworks factory in the eastern province of Jiangxi. According to local media, at least 34 more bodies have been found by rescue workers, with many people still missing. The official Xinhua news agency is still putting the number of dead at nine. It is still not clear precisely what caused the explosions, which destroyed a warehouse and ten workshops at the Panda Export Fireworks Company in the rural town of Huangmao, a centre of the fireworks industry. Thousands of people are said to have fled the area for fear of further explosions.

3 January 2001 – Police and firemen combed the rubble today for victims from a deadly blast that flattened a fireworks factory in eastern China, as officials refused to disclose the latest death toll, local reporters said. They said villagers had reported seeing at least 34 corpses pulled from the site of Sunday's explosion at the Panda Export Fireworks Company in rural Huangmao, Jiangxi province. But state media, some of which had earlier reported up to 34 killed in the blast, on Thursday put the death toll at 14. "The local officials refuse to give us a figure," said a reporter in Liuyang city, Hunan province, 60 km (37 miles) from Ii Huangmao. "But the villagers have a sense of justice. They say the figures are higher than official reports," he said. A worker packing fireworks with too much force accidentally triggered the deadly series of blasts, the official Xinhua news agency said late yesterday citing the results of a preliminary investigation. Investigators sent by the State Economic and Trade Commission had arrived at the scene earlier this week amid calls for the central government intervention from local villagers, a newspaper editor in Liuyang said. She said the site, cordoned off by police because of what they what they said was the threat of further explosions, was now safe. "But it's still difficult to report anything. The site's been completely blocked off," she said. Huangmao is located in Jiangxi province's Wanzai county, the site of an explosion in March 2001 at a school that killed at least 42 people, most of them children. Earlier this week, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Bangguo was quoted by state media as saying that improving work safety was a key goal of the government in 2002 and that unlicensed factories making explosives and firecrackers would be closed. On Tuesday, the semi-official China News Service said 20 bodies had been pulled from the rubble and more than 10,000 residents living close to the factory – owned by a Hong Kong businessman – had been evacuated following the blast. State media had also said the death toll could rise since the factory was operating at full capacity with as many as 200 workers at the time of the blast. But this morning, the China News Service stuck to an official Xinhua toll of 14 dead and 61 injured – as did the Beijing Evening News, which a day before reported 34 bodies had been recovered. It was not clear why they rolled back the death toll. But state media were ordered to use only Xinhua reports of major accidents or disasters in the wake of a fatal tin mine accident and cover-up in southwestern China last summer, which spurred a debate on the role of the press.

30 December 2001, Premises, Lima, Peru

A cache of fireworks exploded last night in Lima, spreading a fire through a street market and two blocks of apartments and stores. The city fire chief said at least 60 people were killed. The initial blast ripped through a shop selling fireworks at about 2000, Lima Fire Chief Tulio Nicolini said. Flames rushed through the three- and four-story buildings as fire-fighters and volunteers dragged people from the burning structures. Nicolini said at least 60 people were killed, and a hospital near the burned-out area reported that it was treating 35 people with severe burns. "Dozens of people have died," said Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi. He said the victims included shopkeepers who shut themselves inside their stores to deter looters. Efforts to fight the blaze were hindered at first by low water pressure and crowds of people drawn by the flames, which initially blocked fire trucks. Tulio said 440 fire-fighters were called in from several districts to fight the blaze, about four blocks from Peru's Congress in the historic downtown section of Lima. Officials cut electricity to the area to limit the possibility of short circuits adding to the fire, and fire-fighters used portable generators to power floodlights trained on the blaze. Twenty municipal water trucks were sent to the scene to support the fire-fighters. Streets in the area were ankle deep with water and long plumes of smoke rose into the night sky. Police blocked the site to keep out looters. The fire broke out in an area of aging buildings, some of them from the colonial era, used as shops and apartments. President Alejandro Toledo cut short a trip to the north of Peru to return to the capital. He declared today and tomorrow national days of mourning.

30 December 2001 – A fireworks explosion set off a huge blaze in central Lima late yesterday, killing at least 124 people and turning a busy shopping street into a hellish scene of blackened corpses and wreckage, police said today. "At the moment, we have 124 burned corpses of men, women and children," a police official told Reuters. Bodies littered the historic city centre. Some were burned to the bone, others were still dressed but with arms thrown up as if to fend off the flames. Other victims, including small, unrecognisable corpses of children, were still strewn inside burned shops that once sold dolls, paint, or playing cards. As day dawned, rescuers carried away heaps of bodies in trucks. Chief fire-fighter Tulio Nicolini said the death toll from the "chain reaction" blaze, which was sparked around 1930 yesterday and raged for several hours before being contained, could hit 150 people. Authorities have warned the number of dead could rise as fire-fighters began the grim task of recovering bodies of people trapped in buildings. Health Minister Luis Solari said about 115 people had been taken to hospitals. The fire was concentrated around a busy commercial intersection in downtown Lima, burning a score of surrounding buildings, including some homes, and leaving the blackened and deformed hulls of at least a dozen cars on the narrow street. Witnesses said the blaze began when a fireworks merchant lit a sample of his wares to show an interested customer, as throngs of shoppers stocked up in preparation for New Year's festivities, on a narrow street outside the shopping area. Fire-fighters, however, said the ill-fated demonstration took place inside a fireworks store.

30 December 2001 – Fire-fighters today dug through the rubble of a massive blaze sparked by a fireworks explosion in downtown Lima, retrieving more than 250 bodies by nightfall. Officials were trying to learn what caused the disaster. Propelled by exploding fireworks at dozens of sidewalk stands, a wall of fire raced across four blocks last night, trapping holiday shoppers and street vendors. Lima Fire Chief Tulio Nicolini initially said the blaze appeared to have started in a warehouse filled with fireworks. But several witnesses said it began when a firecracker exploded in an area spilling over with stands selling fireworks. Fire-fighters going through the rubble of fire-gutted buildings today continued to find more and more bodies. By nightfall, Doris Sanchez, a Cabinet minister in charge of women's issues, said the official death toll was 276. But Col. Ruben Ibanez, of Peru's civil defence agency, later put the confirmed figure at 256. At least 144 more were hospitalised with burns. Luiz Bazan, a civil defence official, said rescue workers still had to search two-thirds of the burned buildings, including at least six multi-storey shopping galleries honeycombed with tiny stores. President Alejandro Toledo cut short a trip to the north of Peru to return to the capital. He declared today and tomorrow national days of mourning and announced an immediate ban on the production, importation or sale of fireworks.

31 December 2001 – A Peruvian public safety official has said that a blaze sparked by fireworks in the capital, Lima, on December 29 may have killed over 300 people. The head of the Lima Municipal Security Board, Raul Duenas, said that at least 282 people were already known to have died and 134 were injured in the disaster. Rescuers are still picking through the charred rubble of the shopping centre to recover more bodies but work has been slow because some were trapped in cars caught in the fire and there are fears of structural collapse. City authorities say they have begun identifying the victims of the blaze, but some bodies are burned beyond recognition.