Death toll from Vietnam firework factory blast reaches 24

Vietnamese police on Sunday raised the death toll from a blast at a fireworks factory to 24 blaming other explosives also stored at the site for the accident which also left many injured.

“At least 24 people were killed - we have identified 16 bodies,” Phu Tho policeman Pham Quang Minh said, raising the number of dead from 21 in Saturday’s incident.

Minh said more than 20 people had been injured, lower than the near-100 initially reported to have been hurt in the explosion at a military complex in northern Vietnam.

“According to a preliminary investigation, some explosives self-ignited in storage, which caused a fire and further explosions at the site,” he said, adding both fireworks and other explosives were stored at the Z121 military facility.

Plumes of black smoke billowed from the complex, around 120 kilometres north of Hanoi, as fireworks exploded uncontrollably for several hours on Saturday before the blaze was contained.

The explosion prompted the evacuation of some 2,000 people living near the area, most of whom had returned by Sunday.