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Beijing Fireworks Injure 125
BEIJING, China (AP) -- At least 125 people were injured setting off Chinese New Year fireworks Sunday in Beijing, where the noisy tradition has made a comeback after a ban was lifted, state media said.
The official Xinhua News Agency cited police as blaming the injuries on shoddy firecrackers that had flooded into
The fireworks were part of celebrations marking the start of the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which began Sunday.
Xinhua described three of the injuries as serious; one person's eyes had to be removed.
An official with
It said that 114 accidental fireworks-caused fires were reported in
Fire toll
The nationwide fire toll was likely to be far more serious. Accidental fires killed 63 people in
Regulations limit fireworks to certain parts of the capital, and to a half-hour period on Chinese New Year's Eve -- but few people seemed to follow the rules. Skyrockets were exploding over much of downtown
Firecrackers popped noisily throughout the night, and on Sunday morning city streets were littered with tattered red paper and the cardboard casings from spent fireworks.
Under pressure from the public,
Fireworks sales by government-approved vendors jumped to 380,000 boxes this year from the 240,000 sold last year, Xinhua said.
However, about 560 million illegal and shoddy firecrackers were also seized -- more than four times the amount confiscated last year -- the agency said. It did not give last year's figure.
News Source: CNN.COM
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