June 11, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1429

BEIJING, June 10: Fireworks will be banned across Beijing during the Olympic Games, the local safety watchdog said on Tuesday, in the latest security measure for the host city before the August event.

Fireworks, which are extremely popular in China but are often of dangerously poor quality, will be banned from July 1 to Oct 8, an official at Beijing’s work safety administration said.

The ban, which is already in place inside the Fifth Ring Road, a beltway around 10 kilometres (six miles) out from the city centre, will be extended to areas further away to encompass the whole of the capital, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported.

People living within the area of the permanent ban are only allowed to use fireworks or firecrackers on special occasions, such as Lunar New Year and other festivals, the paper said.

China’s huge fireworks industry is notorious for its lax safety standards.

Dozens of people are killed every year during Lunar New Year, when revellers around the country let off fireworks and set off fires in the process.

The work safety administration also laid other stipulations, including petrol station safety measures.

Petrol stations within 300 metres (yards) of Olympic Games venues must install video surveillance equipment and explosion-prevention devices, the administration said.

The latest safety measures join a host of others taken ahead of the Olympic Games, as China tries to ensure the event — designed to showcase its rise as a major power onto the world stage — goes smoothly.

Security has been stepped up at airports, for example, with passengers banned from carrying lighters onto planes, and smoking has been partly banned in the capital for a more healthy atmosphere.—AFP