Magistrate visits Salina fireworks factory blast site as investigations continue

Investigators, led by magistrate Joe Mifsud, visited the site of the Salina fireworks factory on Thursday morning as part of an ongoing inquiry into the explosion that shook Malta on Monday June 1.

The delegation also included members of AFM’s Explosive Ordnance Unit and officials from the police force’s forensics team. The inquiry is being headed by Mifsud.

What was once a fireworks factory now lies in ruin. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Several site inspections have been carried out over the past ten days, with pyrotechnics experts and forensic lab specialists also combing through the site to establish the sequence of events on the morning of the explosion.

The Lourdes fireworks factory suffered a series of spectacular explosions in the early morning of June 1. The blast, which was powerful enough to register a magnitude of 1.9 on the Richter scale, was captured on film by residents across the island.

Members of the armed forces and police were also on site. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

While nobody was injured in the blast, fields and properties as far as two kilometres away sustained damages as a result of the explosion.

It also damaged farms in the area, killing animals and destroying crops. Farmers who worked the nearby land have since been banned from consuming or selling unharvested produce, with authorities promising to compensate them for their losses.

The nearby cow farm was impacted in the blast. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Dozens of property damage claims have since been filed, in the days following the incident, according to one major insurance company.

However, many questions linked to the explosion remain unanswered, including whether the factory was operating in line with the law, whether it was insured and what triggered the explosion.

Crops in the surrounding fields have been burnt to cinders. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The explosion has reignited an age-old debate calling for safer fireworks regulations, with many fearing that a similar blast in the future could have catastrophic consequences.

However, Maltese MEPs on both sides of the political divide were quick to come to the defence of Maltese pyrotechnics, saying they are an integral part of Maltese identity and culture.