Ten killed in Indonesian fireworks blast

At least ten people have been killed and 15 wounded in an explosion at a fireworks factory in the Indonesian town of Slawi in…

At least ten people have been killed and 15 wounded in an explosion at a fireworks factory in the Indonesian town of Slawi in the Central Java province.

"Ten died of which three have not been identified. Fifteen suffered minor (or) serious injuries," Khalimi, an official at the emergency unit at Dokter Soeselo hospital, told Journalists.

Senior Slawi police official Ahmad Zulfikar confirmed the figures and said nine of the dead were women and the other was a man. All 15 wounded were women, he added.

Earlier, another hospital official in Slawi, around 275 km (171 miles) east of the capital Jakarta, had put the casualty count at one dead and 19 injured, and said many were workers at the factory.

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The factory had 86 workers, most of whom were women. A witness said the explosion also destroyed several buildings near the factory.

Zulfikar said the cause was still under investigation. "The initial assumption is (it was) due to the materials used in firecracker production which easily explode when mixed.

Firecrackers are used in rural Indonesian areas to celebrate weddings and other festivities.