Watch: Fireworks factory explosion shocks Malta

Updated 11.20am

A powerful explosion and a series of smaller ones rocked the Salina area on Monday morning as a fireworks factory blew up, sending a thick plume of smoke into the air.

The blast at the Lourdes Fireworks Factory on Triq il-Qadi damaged many properties in the area, but the police said all people who work on site and neighbours were accounted for. 

Two men, aged 47 and 67, who tilled nearby fields were hospitalised and treated for shock and slight injuries. A number of farm animals are believed to have been killed. 

The blast was heard at around 6.30am, with a column of smoke visible from many parts of the island.

People reported feeling the impact in the centre and north of the country.

'Smoke a thousand feet high' 

Edward Mercieca, who lives in nearby Magħtab and also operates a theatre there, was woken by the first of three big blasts in quick succession.

The explosions blew the locks off his home, theatre door and office, swinging their doors wide open.  

He described the largest explosion as a "mixture of sound and feeling". 

"It felt like someone picked up a hammer the size of a truck and banged on the side of my house. 

"The plume of smoke must have been a thousand feet high," Mercieca said. 

'It felt like we were about to be blown up'

Former MP Claudette Buttigieg was still half asleep when the first explosion occurred. 

"It sounded like one of those big festa fireworks they let off at the end of a fireworks display. One of the big ones. In fact, for a moment my husband and I wondered whether they were letting off fireworks this early in the morning," she said. 

"We walked to the window to see what it was, and that's when the second explosion went off."

Buttigieg lives quite far away, in San Pawl tat-Tarġa, but the blast still shook their apertures.

"I kid you not, I saw the aluminum planes bend and snap back into place. That's how powerful the second explosion was," she said.

"For a moment I thought it would break all over me. The whole thing felt like we were about to blow up."

'We've just been bombed'

London DJ Max Ebeling got the shock of his life when he witnessed the explosion of the fireworks factory from his balcony.

Ebeling was in Malta for the Triip festival when he came back to his apartment in St Paul's Bay, "sat down for five minutes and this happened".

He filmed the series of small explosions that culminated in a massive cloud of smoke. "You can feel the shockwaves," he is heard saying.

Another person, trying to make sesnse of what was unfolding said: "We've just been bombed".

Glass panes were shattered in nearby residences and even as far away as Qawra, and large stones were literally showered on Triq is-Salini, which leads from Salina to Telgha t'Alla w'Ommu. A food courier was reportedly slightly injured by the stones, and cars were damaged.  Motorists were urged to avoid the area. 

People in the area were evacuated as small explosions continued to be heard hours after the initial blasts. 

There were concerns about the safety of cows and other livestock kept in farms in the vicinity of the fireworks factory.  Farmers were told they could not check on their animals until the area was deemed safe. 

"The house shook with the blast," a resident of Baħar ic-Cagħaq said.

A Naxxar resident said: "At first there was one mortar explosion, then circa five seconds later, a loud deafening one. At some point amid this, also a sound of smaller crackling noises"

"I heard an explosion, like a test blast. Then after about 30 seconds or more there were huge explosions in a long rumble. The garage door and building shook," a reader from San Ġwann said.

"All of a sudden we felt three shock waves and glass was shaking.  Half the neighbourhood came out," a resident of Mellieħa said.

The White Star guest house near Triq Is-Salini had its doors blown in by the explosion. People were sleeping in one of the bedrooms when the blast blew in their glass door, showering them with shards. 

'Significant damage' to farms

The MaYA Foundation, which works among farmers, expressed relief that no one was seriously hurt or killed, but reported "significant damage" to farms.

"Over the past hours, MaYA has been in contact with farmers and breeders in the surrounding area who have reported significant damage to their farms. These include structural damage, the loss of livestock, and serious impacts on animals affected by the force and stress caused by the explosions."

"For farmers and breeders, animals are not simply numbers. They represent years of dedication, daily care, emotional commitment, and, in many cases, the livelihood of entire families. Such losses cannot be measured only in financial terms," it said.

It appealed to the relevant authorities to make themselves available to affected farming families as soon as the area is declared safe, assess the damages suffered, and provide the necessary assistance and support."

Bitter memories

The same fireworks factory had exploded eight years ago in May 2018, leaving two men seriously injured.

The timing of the explosion, a day after the announcement of the result of the general election, recalled two similar episodes that also happened a day after the announcement of results.

In 1992, a mother and her baby were killed when a powerful blast in a photography shop brought down an apartment block and the Paola Labour Party Club on March 18.

And on March 12, 2008, a woman died as her apartment collapsed after illegal fireworks being manufactured in an adjacent garage blew up. A man handling the fireworks had also died.