At 1:27 pm, a series of explosions followed by a fire broke out in a fireworks production plant located 5 km from the city centre, in a sparsely populated zone. The emergency services, called at 1:30 pm, arrived on the scene at 1:40; the fire was brought under control around 2 pm with 15 fire-fighting vehicles called into duty. Three ambulances transported 4 passers-by injured by the explosion (blast, debris). Among the 28 employees working at the facility at the time of the accident, 9 were killed and 2 injured.

Damage was considerable: 6 of the 25 buildings at this 20,000-m2 plant were destroyed during the incident, broken glass could be found on buildings adjacent to the site, including a vocational high school 300 m away; 8 cars were damaged 50 m from the plant.

According to the investigation, which was complicated by the loss of buildings and the deaths of employees during the accident, the initial explosion would have taken place in the manufacturing workshop, during loading or bundling of fireworks (initiation due to impact, friction or static electricity). This explosive force would then have been transmitted to the storage depots a few metres away (i.e. domino effect).

The plant had been authorised to store up to 9 tonnes of black powder. Large quantities of explosives illegally stored onsite, specifically in the depot reserved for non-explosive raw materials, in intermediate storage or in the mixing workshop, exacerbated the consequences of this accident.

A prior inspection had not revealed any special problems with this site. The government reinforced its supervisory system involving the various assigned authorities.