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October 23, 2008

Indian Fireworks Blast Kills 25
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Accidental explosion in small, illegal fireworks factory, also injured
at least 17 
In India, police say at least 25 people including 12 children have been
killed in an accidental explosion in a small, illegal fireworks factory.
Officials say at least 17 people were injured in the explosion. The
tragedy occurred less than a week before the country's main Hindu
festival. As Anjana Pasricha reports, thousands of poor children are
employed in small establishments throughout the country despite a ban.
Television frame grab from AAJTAK TV shows onlookers at site of illegal
fireworks factory which exploded in Deeg, some 160 km south of New
Delhi, 22 Oct 2008Police say a huge explosion early Thursday tore down a
house where fireworks were being illegally manufactured in the town of
Deeg in western Rajasthan state. Many of the victims were young boys and
girls employed by the workshop. Police and volunteers helped sift
through the rubble to pull out those killed and rescue those injured in
the explosion. Police say an accidental fire may have caused the!
  blast. The tragedy occurred less than a week before the main Hindu
festival, Diwali. Setting off firecrackers at night is an intrinsic part
of the celebration, and hundreds of small,illegal manufacturing
establishments come up at this time of the year to meet the huge demand
in the market. Many of these factories employ young boys and girls
despite a law banning the employment of children. Child rights activists
say the latest tragedy highlights the lax implementation of these laws.
An activist with Bachpan Bachao Andolan or Save Childhood Campaign,
Bhuwan Ribhun, says there is neither political nor administrative will
to clamp down on the use of child labor. "Law is nothing but a piece of
paper until and unless it is enforced, whether it is a fireworks
factory, whether it is domestic child labor, whether it is any other
form ofchild labor," said Ribhun. "The administration is not equipped
with the knowledge, with the training, as well as the necessary
political will behind the administration to say it must be considered as
a crime." E
stimates of the number of children working in India vary widely. The
government says that there are about 10 million boys and girls under the
age of 14 working in thecountry. Child rights activists say the number
is 60 million. Children from poor homes are pushed to work by parents to
supplement a meager income. Employers hire children to save wages. They
work in homes, factories, shopsor in fields across the country. 


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