Police in central China have detained the owner of a fireworks plant who went missing after an explosion ripped through the factory, killing 10 people and injuring another 21, state media reported.
Tian Baoshan, 54, was held on Saturday, three days after the blast in Henan province's Liji township, the official Xinhua news agency said — the latest in a spate of such accidents ahead of Lunar New Year festivities.
Police have also detained three of Tian's partners, it added. A spokeswoman for the government of Luohe, which administers Liji, confirmed to AFP that four people had been detained, but said she was not aware of further details.
The explosion razed several rows of workshops to the ground, and minor blasts continued throughout the night, the report late Saturday quoted witnesses as saying.
Of the 59 employees working there, 28 escaped without injuries.
China has a huge fireworks industry notorious for its lax safety standards, and as production increases for the Lunar New Year holiday — during which millions of the festive explosives are used — so does the number of accidents.
Earlier this month, nine people died and two others were injured in a blast at an illegal fireworks plant in the northern province of Shaanxi.
According to the report, Liji is a centre for fireworks production, and has experienced three factory explosions in the past 10 years. But the latest blast saw the largest number of casualties.
The New Year festivities are set for February 3 this year.
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