Before yesterday’s fatal blast in Għarb, 24 people had been killed as a result of fireworks-related accidents in Gozo alone. Historian Eddie Attard traced a bloody trail through the decades.

• March 31, 1893: Karmnu Grech died in the Gran Kastell at Victoria. The Grech family was one of the first to manufacture fireworks on the island and, at the time, there were neither fireworks factories nor proper legislation. Fireworks were manufactured and stored in inhabited places.

• June 3, 1949: An explosion occurred at the San Lawrenz church centre, where fireworks were being manufactured and stored without a police permit. At the time of the explosion, Żarenu Formosa, 21, Victor Formosa, 13, and Ġużeppi Mizzi, 18, were inside the building. The three suffered serious injuries and Mr Formosa died nine days after being admitted to hospital.

• September 7, 1949: Franġisku Camilleri, 23, was manufacturing a petard in a tin can at Qala when the device exploded. He died at the Gozo hospital after suffering serious stomach injuries.

• August 19, 1955: A man and boy died after an explosion at the Fontana Catholic Centre. Ġużeppi Schembri, 32, Salvu Formosa, 40, Ġanni Cini, 22, and Toni Formosa, six, who were on the premises, were injured. Schembri died at the Gozo hospital three days later and the boy passed away the following day.

• May 14, 1960: Pawlu Vella, a soldier of the 3rd LAA Regiment, Royal Malta Artillery, was manufacturing fireworks near the old parish church in Xewkija when something went wrong, causing an explosion. When the police arrived on the scene, Mr Vella was already dead.

• April 6, 1963: Following an explosion at Tal-Ħanżiera, limits of Xewkija, Marjannu Pace, 20, and Roża Haber were injured but survived.

• August 18, 1967: The illegal manufacture of fireworks continued unabated and no one dared to report that fireworks were being manufactured and stored at the Catholic Action Centre in Żebbuġ. The centre was completely wrecked after an explosion at about noon. Mario Saliba, 18, who was on the premises, died. A man was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to six months imprisonment. The Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to three months and imposed a fine.

• May 25, 1968: Carmelo Rapa, 11, from Xewkija, died when he tried to open a petard which he found in a field. Two boys who were in the vicinity suffered minor injuries. It had been discarded the previous day during the feast of St John the Baptist at Xewkija. Children used to fill water pipes with the explosive mixture and ignite them for amusement.

• July 15, 1974: In the afternoon of the day after the feast of Our Lady of Assistance celebrated in Kerċem, some children found a number of petards in an empty well near the local school. After igniting one of the petards on the spot, the children extracted the contents from another. They then proceeded to the steps leading to the parish centre and filled a water pipe with explosive material. A fuse was attached to the pipe and, when it was ignited, Gregory Gambin, 12, died instantly. His brother Anton, 14, was seriously injured. He was immediately operated upon but died soon after. Two other children suffered serious injuries as a result of the explosion.

• June 18, 1984: An explosion demolished the Cilia Fireworks Factory in Ta’ Żabetta, limits of Sannat. Owner Toni Cilia, 78, and his son Joseph, 58, both died as a result of the explosion. Another victim was Joseph Attard, 31, who on that day happened to be there to buy fireworks.

• July 14, 1993: Ġużeppi Cini, 49, and Godwin Cini, 21, lost their lives while manufacturing explosives at their fireworks factory in Qortin taż-Żebbuġ. The bodies of the victims were found some distance away from each other.

• October 23, 1997: Joe Grima and his father-in-law, Mikiel Azzopardi, 52, died after an explosion at a fireworks factory in Santa Margerita valley, limits of Munxar. In spite of his serious injuries, Mr Azzopardi managed to walk up to Cilia Fireworks Factory for assistance. In 1980, Mr Azzopardi had lost half of the palm and some fingers of one of his hands when a petard ignited.

• January 28, 2000: Adrian Agius, 45, died when working at Kerċem’s 15 ta’ Awissu Vampa ta’ Ljun factory. Another man had just left the factory before the explosion.

• September 5, 2010: An explosion at the Farrugia Brothers Factory in Għarb rocks Gozo and wiped out an entire family: owner Nenu Farrugia, 67, his two sons Noel, 31, and Raymond, 32, daughter-in-law Antinette, son-in-law Peter Paul Micallef, 35, and Jean-Pierre Azzopardi, 27, a family friend.

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