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Chinese fireworks explosion kills 26 Chinese fireworks explosion kills 26
(35 minutes later)
A truck carrying fireworks ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations exploded and destroyed part of an elevated highway on Friday in central China, killing at least 26 people as it sent vehicles plummeting 30 metres (about 100 feet) to the ground, state media said. A truck carrying fireworks in central China exploded on Friday morning, destroying an expressway bridge and killing at least 26 people.
The huge blast destroyed an 80-metre (80-yard) stretch of highway outside the city of Sanmenxia in Henan province, and was powerful enough to shatter windows of a nearby truck stop. The explosion occurred on national expressway G30 near the city of Sanmenxia in central Henan Province at about 8:52am, according to the state-run China Daily, causing an 80 metre-long section of the bridge to collapse and sending vehicles plummeting 100 feet to the ground.
Emergency crews closed the highway at the accident site, said China National Radio, which reported the death toll of 26. The Xinhua news agency reported four deaths but said search and rescue efforts were continuing. At least 15 people were injured and sent to nearby hospitals, the Henan Commercial Newspaper reported. At least 15 people are thought to have been injured in the accident, the Henan Commercial Newspaper reported.
Photos posted on the popular news site Sina.com by Chinese netizens showed a stretch of elevated highway gone, with a truck perched precariously at the broken edge. Other photos showed wrecked trucks below and blackened chunks of scattered debris, including collapsed sections of highway, wrecked trucks and cargo containers. Pictures posted online show a highway strewn with rubble, a red truck teetering on the edge of the broken highway, and a pile of wrecked vehicles on the ground far below.
Six vehicles have so far been retrieved from the debris and emergency workers have closed off the highway near the accident, according to the state newswire Xinhua. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
Lighting fireworks is a traditional part of Chinese New Year celebrations, which begin this year on 10 February.