Overview
- State media said the explosion struck a shop in Zhengji town, Xiangyang, around 2pm local time on Wednesday.
- Firefighters contained a roughly 50-square-metre blaze by about 3:30pm, and the cause remains under investigation.
- Officials reported five children and seven adults among the dead, including the shop owner and customers buying fireworks.
- The incident was the second deadly fireworks-shop blast in days, after a Jiangsu explosion on Sunday killed eight and injured two.
- The Ministry of Emergency Management urged tightened oversight of production, storage, sales, and use of fireworks during the holiday period.