Italy fireworks factory blast toll rises to eight

ROME - Agence France-Presse

AP photo

The death toll from an explosion at a fireworks factory in southern Italy has risen to eight after one of those hurt succumbed to their injuries, a hospital source said July 26.

Another person remained in serious condition in hospital and is not out of danger, the source said.
 
Seven people were killed on the spot and several other injured on July 24 in the explosion in the southern port city of Bari, local media reported citing the emergency services.
 
La Repubblica newspaper reported that a van exploded first, triggering a series of blasts within the factory that lasted around an hour.
 
The Bari prosecutor's office has opened an involuntary homicide enquiry into the explosion.
 
Italian President Sergio Mattarella said everything would be done to ensure that the cause of the tragedy would be discovered "as soon as possible".
 
Two Canadair water-bomber planes were deployed to stop the fire triggered by the blasts reaching a nearby forest.
 
One of the injured sustained burns on 90 per cent of the body, La Repubblica said.
 
The factory was totally destroyed.
 
Such explosions are a relatively regular occurrence in Italy, costing several lives each year.