A powerful explosion obliterated a fireworks factory south of Manila on Thursday, killing at least six people and injuring more than 30 others, officials said. Witnesses said the blast gouged out a crater big enough to fit a school bus. The mutilated bodies of two men and a woman were recovered outside the compound of the Starmaker fireworks factory near a residential area in Trece Martires city in Cavite province, police chief Reynaldo Galang told DZMM radio. Three other people also died, a police spokesman said. More than 30 people were injured and brought to hospitals, Cavite Gov. Erineo Maliksi said. It was not clear if all the casualties were workers. Firefighters were trying to put out a blaze in a nearby factory that also caught fire, Maliksi was quoted as saying by Associated Press.
