Special Report: Spring Festival Special 2009
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- As Beijing's fire authorities blamed powerful
firecrackers for triggering the disastrous blaze at a deluxe hotel near to the
new national television tower, the festive Chinese custom of using fireworks has
again aroused safety concerns.
The latest announcement Tuesday morning from the government said hundreds
of "extremely powerful" firecrackers ignited the Mandarin Oriental Hotel next to
the landmark building of China Central Television (CCTV) new headquarters,
leading to the death of one fireman and huge economic loss.
The big fire occurred on Lantern Festival, the last night that the Beijing
municipal government allows fireworks in the capital's downtown areas. Beijing
has the most stringent pyrotechnic restrictions in the country, and normally
fireworks are banned.
The night was also the last chance for Chinese to ignite fireworks to
celebrate their Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, season that
traditionally ends with Lantern Festival.
The past two weeks saw a continual round of noisy and colorful firework
explosions, some of which were so powerful that the city at times took on the
feel of downtown Baghdad.
Firework explosions are usually the heaviest on the Lunar New Year Eve, on
the New Year morning, on the fifth day into the new year which is believed to be
the birthday of the God of Wealth, and on the Lantern Festival after which
people officially set out to work in the new year.
Chinese have a tradition of setting off fireworks that has prevailed for
2,000 years. Superstitious ancients first used them to drive away evil spirits
on festivals and funerals, or welcome fortune on joyful occasions such as
weddings, house moving and graduation.
Today's firecrackers, however, are more advanced in shooting high and
making varied patterns in the air. Therefore, they are more likely to cause
accidents.
According to the China Fireworks Safety Net, fireworks could cause
unexpected explosions or fires because of unqualified raw materials, poor
design, incorrect ways of ignition, and so on.
Local governments across China have been imposing total or partial bans on
firecrackers in cities in the past decade or so. The result has been a mixed one
as the enforcement was not strict enough and many people broke the rules.
The Beijing Municipal Government banned firecrackers from 1993 to 2006.
Since 2006, the government adopted a new measure which bans firecrackers within
the Fifth Ring Road, or the city's urban area, but makes exceptions during the
Lunar New Year season.
Beijing still bans firecrackers in certain areas of the city such as
protected cultural relics, public transport junctions, gas stations and so on.
Factories and vendors that make or sell firecrackers must first obtain licenses
from the government.
Manufacturing and marketing restrictions, paradoxically, forced some
fireworks lovers to grab cheap but unreliable products from less-regulated rural
markets.
This is the third year that Beijing conditionally loosens its total ban on
lighting fireworks. The moratorium came in response to continual public
complaints against the absolute no-fireworks policy.
Most people complained that the 13-year ban was pointless as people honor
the custom of welcoming new years by setting off fireworks, which are considered
jubilant.
Environmentalists, on the other hand, argue that igniting fireworks not
only heavily pollutes the air but also triggers fire hazards.
According to the International Fireworks Association headquartered in
central China's Hunan Province, China now occupies 80 percent of the global
fireworks market with more than 7,500 businesses making fireworks, mostly small
workshops.
Firecrackers blamed for hotel fire
near Beijing's new CCTV headquarters, 7 injured
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- A hotel adjacent to the
new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters in Beijing caught fire Monday
night.
As of 0:45 a.m. Tuesday, the fire has been under
control, but blaze could still be seen on upper floors, witnesses said. Full story
Official: CCTV hotel fire caused by
fireworks
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- The blaze that caused
one death and seven injuries at a hotel within the new China Central Television
(CCTV) headquarters complex in Beijing Monday night was caused by fireworks, the
city's fire control authorities said Tuesday.
CCTV hired staff from a fireworks company to ignite
several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space outside the
nearly-completed Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is part of the iconic CCTV tower
complex, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief of Beijing Fire Control
Bureau. Full story
Official: CCTV itself responsible for
Monday's massive fire
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- China Central Television
(CCTV) itself was responsible for Monday night's massive fire that caused one
death and seven injuries in its new headquarters complex in eastern Beijing, the
city's fire control authorities said Tuesday.
CCTV hired staff from a fireworks company to ignite
several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space outside one of its
nearly-completed buildings, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief of Beijing
Fire Control Bureau. Full story
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