An explosion caused by a homemade firecracker killed a 13-year-old child and injured two others, who are five and seven years old, in northern Vietnam on Monday, local police said on Tuesday.

Residents of Luc Ngan District in Bac Giang Province reported the blast at around 8:00 pm on Monday, according to police officers.

Early reports showed that at the house of P.V.D. in Tan Hoa Commune, his 13-year-old son, P.C.M., was making a firecracker on his own by mixing several unknown chemical substances together at around 7:30 pm the same day.

The firecracker unexpectedly exploded, causing M. to die on the spot with serious injuries on his legs, face, and two severed arms.

The explosion also slightly injured seven-year-old L.P.L. and five-year-old H.L.H.

The Department of Fire Prevention and Control, Rescue and Salvage under the Ministry of Public Security has warned people of the high risk of fire and explosion due to the use, storage, and production of firecrackers before and during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

The agency recommends that schools and parents stay cautious to prevent children from creating, using, and storing firecrackers.

Violators can be handled with administrative or criminal charges, depending on their ages, if they are involved in a fire or explosion caused by firecrackers that leads to serious consequences.

Vietnamese law prohibits all activities related to the production, trading, transportation, import, export, storage, and use of firecrackers and fireworks and materials thereof, except for some specific cases.

The government recently amended a decree, which took effect on January 11, allowing all Vietnamese to light up fireworks for some special events such as Lunar New Year festivals, birthdays, wedding ceremonies, conferences, grand openings, anniversaries, and cultural activities.

However, the fireworks allowed are the kind that will not explode, and organizations and individuals are required to buy pyrotechnics from authorized factories and enterprises under the guidelines of the decree.

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