Factory blast kills seven, injures dozen in Italy's south
An explosion in a firework factory in southern Italy has claimed the lives of seven people and wounded a dozen more, Italian media say.
The tremendous explosion destroyed the Fireworks Bruscella factory, on the outskirts of Modugno near the southern port of Bari on Italy's Adriatic coast, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reported on Friday.
The blast started with a load of fireworks in a van and caused a series of chain explosions throughout the factory.
Seven workers -- four Italians, two Indians and an Albanian -- lost their lives in the midday blast and several other people sustained injuries, some in critical condition. Michael Bruscella, one of the owners of the factory, is among the wounded.
The explosions, which could be heard kilometers away, completely demolished the family-run factory and scattered the victims’ bodies over an area of tens of meters. It took hours to recover the charred bodies.
According to the Bari prosecutor, Giuseppe Volpe, it would take at least a day for the flames to go out and only then, firefighters would be able to access the site of the explosion.
At this time of the year, many of Italy's small towns celebrate religious festivals with fireworks and the ill-fated factory was in full swing when the blast happened.
The reasons behind the tragic explosion have yet to be investigated.
Back in 1959, the factory was completely rebuilt after a similar incident.
Russia warns of direct confrontation with West over Ukraine
Spanish protesters call for end of arms trade with Israel
Voters cast ballots in Basque regional elections
UN rights chief ‘horrified’ by mass grave reports at Gaza hospitals
Hezbollah says launched ‘deepest attack’ on Israel since start of Gaza war
Israel intensifies strikes across Gaza on day 200 of genocidal war
China says US still interfering in its affairs despite efforts to stabilize relations
Russia says will intensify strikes on Western weapons storage in Ukraine
‘200 days of livestreamed genocide’: Netizens react as Gaza war marks 200 days
Confirmed: Iran’s star striker Mehdi Taremi joining Italian champions Inter Milan
Google fires more employees over anti-Israel protests
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
