'Nobody knows the truth because there were so many pilgrims burning joss sticks and lighting firecrackers near the warehouse,' she said. She wondered if blaming the boy could be an excuse by the authorities to minimise criticism.

'There have been so many explosions in the past, but the village head never reported them. He could not hide this blast because of the high death toll,' she said.

Another villager said Lilin village committee officials had turned a blind eye to the safety standards of the fireworks industry in the village.

'The tax income of the Lilin village committee relies on the fireworks industry. There are at least three big fireworks factories in the village, which only has a population of 2,000. The warehouse was not isolated from the public, allowing anybody to walk up to the door and burn joss sticks and let off fireworks.'

Xinhua said the explosion was triggered by a boy throwing a burning firecracker through a hole into the fireworks storeroom 10 metres from a temple crowded with thousands of pilgrims.

Li Maosheng, a deputy director of Linzhou's propaganda department, said yesterday the boy was 10 years old. 'The naughty boy was slightly injured. There were two other boys, aged seven to eight, playing with him before the blast occurred.' He said all three boys had been admitted to hospital. Sun Huashan , deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety Supervision, was involved in the investigation, Mr Li said.

Xinhua said four executives from the Lilin fireworks company, which owned the warehouse, had been arrested for irresponsibly storing their products.

The blast killed 16 people near the warehouse, and 20 others died during rescue operations.