Fireworks Shipment Explodes, Killing 4

A truckload of firecrackers exploded and set the vehicle on fire, killing four people and injuring seven others, the Kuwait Times reported Sunday.

The newspaper said two Indians and two Bangladeshis were burned to death inside the truck at a customs storage facility in Sulaibiya, west of Kuwait City.

The accident occurred Saturday as workers were loading the last four of 255 boxes of firecrackers onto the vehicle. Customs officials had not allowed the firecrackers into Kuwait and they were being readied for shipment to another country.

The Kuwait Times quoted security officials as saying the explosion may have been triggered by friction caused by the forklift.