Għarb victim spoke to wife just before explosion

Minutes before Sunday’s fireworks explosion in Għarb literally wiped out her family, Maria Farrugia was on the phone with her husband Nenu, who also died in the blast, she said yesterday.

The owner of the Farrugia Brothers Fireworks Factory hung up suddenly, his wife said: “I think he felt something.” That was the last time Mrs Farrugia spoke to her husband.

The death toll from Sunday’s explosion keeps rising, with the fifth fatality being Raymond Farrugia, 38, who was officially declared dead early yesterday morning.

Peter Paul Micallef, Nenu’s son-in-law, is still in critical condition in intensive care but the outlook is not positive.

The tragedy has not served to call off the feast in Xagħra today, where the fireworks that exploded were destined. The feast will go ahead as planned.

Mrs Farrugia responded with anger at the parish’s decision to go ahead with the festivities. “After my husband did all that work for them (Xagħra), they should show respect towards them (the victims),” she said in a hurt tone.

The Xagħra Feast Committee yesterday defended its decision in the face of a barrage of criticism, pointing out that the fireworks factory was not part of the parish and the victims did not hail from the parish.

The only connection between Xagħra and the factory was that the Xagħra Fireworks Committee had commissioned some fireworks from the factory, the committee said.

As the total death toll from fireworks explosion this year rises to nine, the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs said several measures to improve the levels of security in the industry had been introduced and the process continued.