Another two people were added to this year's toll of fireworks factory victims yesterday when a room in the St Catherine's compound in Zurrieq blew up killing a man and critically wounding another.
The explosion, which occurred at about 12.45 p.m., killed 62-year-old Zaren Barbara and left Freddie Cassar, 46, suffering extensive burns on 60 per cent of his body.
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.
Sources close to the investigation said the blast appears to have blown out the walls of the room leaving the unsupported roof to fall flat on Mr Barbara, crushing him.
It is believed Mr Cassar was flung out of the room by the force of the explosion.
Two police cars escorted the ambulance which rushed Mr Cassar to hospital, in a bid to gain as much time as possible. His condition was described as extremely serious.
Relatives of both victims were on site briefly but the scene of devastation proved too much for them and they eventually left.
Mr Barbara, a retired barman, was married and a father of four. One of his daughters is country music singer Marisa Damato, a familiar face on One TV.
Mr Cassar, also married, has two young children.
Even though the timing of the activity at the factory appears to be odd given that the fireworks season has just ended, St Catherine's Band Club vice president Martin Schembri said the people producing fireworks liked to take advantage of the cold weather to gain a head start on the production of stock for next year's feast, which is held in September. Warm weather can prove to be dangerous for mixing flash powder.
He sobbed as his spoke of his mates, pointing out that his son too usually volunteers at the factory.
The scene was painfully familiar, with enthusiasts and villagers huddled near the site of the accident dumbfounded, reminiscing about other notorious accidents while MPs from the district and members of the clergy arrived on site to comfort them.
The band club experienced another tragedy in 1971, when two brothers lost their lives and another two men were seriously injured.
Since 1986, when they transferred their manufacturing operation to the plant which blew up yesterday, there had been no serious incidents.
Yesterday's explosion was the second such tragedy this year. Five men lost their lives and another suffered burns in a massive explosion at the St Helen's factory in Gharghur last June.
None of this seems to shake most of the pyrotechnic enthusiasts, however, who insisted with this newspaper - while still in a state of shock - that this incident will not deter them from going to work at the factory again.
"Do you stop driving a car when someone dies in a traffic accident... or stop swimming when someone drowns," a man, who said he has known both victims since childhood, asked.
"If it's in your blood, there's nothing you can do about it," was his fatalistic reply.