Fireworks: call for ban on danger chemicals

Experts behind a 2011 report on the fireworks industry have called for an urgent ban on dangerous chemical mixtures that are still used by local pyrotechnics enthusiasts despite being banned abroad. The report, commissioned in the wake of the September 2010 tragedy at the Farrugia Brothers Factory in Għarb that killed six people, found that Maltese enthusiasts used highly volatile chemical mixtures prohibited in many other countries, and that manufacturers were often rash when making fireworks. Chillingly, the report predicted Malta would “experience at least one large-scale fatal fireworks accident next year or in 2013” unless regulations were amended and certain mixtures banned. A year later, the Qalb ta’ Gesù factory blew up on Sunday, killing four men just 500 metres away from the Farrugia Brothers site, which had triggered the inquiry. Speaking to The Times yesterday, Prof. Alfred Vella, chairman of the board of inquiry, said banning specific chemical mixtures would be a relatively easy measure that could be taken immediately. The overriding concern is with mixtures combining potassium chlorate (putassa) and metals. Potassium perchlorate (perkolat) could be used...