A massive explosion tore through a fireworks factory in central China on Monday afternoon, May 4, 2026, killing at least 26 people and injuring 61 others in one of the deadliest industrial accidents to strike the country’s fireworks heartland in years. The blast at the Huasheng Fireworks Manufacturing and Display Co. plant in Liuyang, Hunan province, has prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to order a sweeping investigation and a regional suspension of fireworks production.
The explosion struck at approximately 4:40 p.m. local time (8:40 a.m. GMT) in the county-level city of Liuyang, a Changsha-administered municipality long regarded as China’s fireworks capital. Authorities have detained the person in charge of the company as rescue teams continue to comb through the wreckage of a site that, by Tuesday, May 5, was still emitting plumes of white smoke.
Scene Of Widespread Destruction
Aerial footage broadcast by state media on Tuesday revealed the scale of the devastation: collapsed and damaged facilities, scorched earth, and lingering smoke drifting across the industrial site. A separate video circulated on social media showed buildings damaged or destroyed across multiple city blocks, underscoring the explosive force of the blast in a city of 1.5 million people.
Nearly 500 rescuers — 482 emergency personnel, according to state media reports — were dispatched to the scene, supported by drones and three robots deployed to assist with search operations and reduce risks to human responders. Crews adopted spraying and humidification measures to neutralize potential hazards, particularly with two black powder warehouses sitting near the explosion site that posed the threat of secondary blasts.
Residents in danger zones were evacuated as a precaution. Changsha Mayor Chen Bozhang said that “search and rescue at the scene has largely been completed, but verification of the casualties and identification of the victims are still underway.” The full scale of the incident remains unclear, and the number of missing persons has not been disclosed as rescue operations stretched into Tuesday.
Xi Demands Accountability And Reform
President Xi urged “all-out efforts” to locate those still unaccounted for and to treat the injured, calling on authorities to swiftly investigate the cause of the disaster and pursue serious accountability. He also ordered effective risk screening and hazard control across key industries, alongside a strengthening of public safety management nationwide.
“Authorities across regions and departments must draw profound lessons from the accident and reinforce responsibility for workplace safety,” Xi said, according to remarks carried by Chinese state media. Both Xi and Premier Li Qiang have called for a far-reaching evaluation of workplace safety measures in the wake of the disaster.
Public security authorities confirmed they had taken measures against the company’s person in charge, with reports suggesting the individual has been arrested. The investigation is expected to scrutinize how the explosion occurred at a facility operating in an industry that has faced repeated scrutiny over safety lapses.
A Region Built On Fireworks
Liuyang’s prominence in the fireworks trade is staggering: the city produces roughly 70 percent of China’s fireworks exports and accounts for 60 percent of the country’s domestic market. The industry’s roots stretch back more than a millennium. The Guinness World Records organization credits the first accurately documented firework — the Chinese firecracker — to Li Tian, a monk who lived near Liuyang during China’s Tang dynasty, dating to roughly A.D. 618 to 907. Li reportedly discovered that gunpowder packed into hollow bamboo stems produced loud explosions, leading to the traditional New Year firecrackers used to drive away evil spirits.
That deep heritage, however, has been shadowed by repeated tragedies. A 2019 fireworks factory accident in Liuyang killed 13 people and injured 17. Local authorities initially attempted to conceal the extent of that disaster, claiming only seven had died before an investigation by Hunan’s provincial government revealed the higher toll. The pattern of underreporting has fueled public skepticism about official accounts of industrial accidents in the region.
A Pattern Of Deadly Blasts
This week’s catastrophe is not an isolated event. In February, China reported two deadly explosions at fireworks shops around the Lunar New Year period, raising fresh questions about regulatory enforcement in an industry that handles vast quantities of explosive material. The recurrence of such incidents has placed pressure on Beijing to deliver more than rhetorical commitments to workplace safety.
For now, regional fireworks production has been suspended as investigators work to determine what triggered Monday’s blast. The Huasheng plant, once a small piece of a sprawling industrial network that supplies celebrations across the globe, now stands as a charred reminder of the human cost behind one of China’s most iconic exports. Officials have signaled that those responsible will face the full weight of the law — a promise that, in Liuyang, residents have heard before.
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/china/least-dead-explosion-chinese-fireworks-factory-hunan-rcna343588
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/5/explosion-at-fireworks-factory-in-china-kills-26-injures-61
