Fireworks manufacture continued to take its terrible toll yesterday when a man was critically injured in an accident in Lija and another died of the injuries he sustained in an explosion two weeks ago in Zurrieq.

Anthony Farrugia, 51, of Lija, was working inside St Michael's Fireworks Factory in Lija at about 2.40 p.m. when he received serious burns, the police said.

The circumstances of the accident were not immediately known as it is believed the man was on his own at the time.

Sources said explosive material he was mixing probably ignited.

Mr Farrugia was rushed to Mater Dei Hospital where he was found to be in a critical condition, the police said.

A magisterial inquiry and police investigations are underway.

Meanwhile Freddy Cassar, 46, of Zurrieq, who suffered severe burns in a fireworks factory explosion near his hometown on November 14, succumbed to his injuries in hospital yesterday, the police said.

Mr Cassar was married with two children.

He is the second victim of the explosion which razed a room at St Catherine's Fireworks factory to the ground. Sixty-two-year-old father of four Zaren Barbara, also of Zurrieq, had died on the spot.

In this case also, the two are believed to have been mixing what is known as flash powder in a specially assigned room when something went wrong and the material caught fire.

Last June five men lost their lives and another suffered burns in a massive explosion at the St Helen's factory in Gharghur. It was one of the worst such accidents in the the local history of fireworks making, which has claimed more than 100 lives over the past century... seven this year alone.

The government has commissioned a report on how to improve safety, which is due to be submitted before the end of the year.