One person was killed and 270 others were injured in Beijing by firecrackers during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations, according to municipal authorities.

A 25-year-old man was seriously injured in the head when igniting fireworks on Saturday and died in hospital early Sunday despite doctors' efforts, said Daxing District People's Hospital sources.

Two other men, aged 21 and 30 respectively, had to have one eyeball removed because of serious injuries from fireworks, according to sources with No. 3 Hospital affiliated to Peking University and No. 304 Hospital.

The city reported a total of 270 fireworks injury cases between Saturday and Sunday and 249 fires caused by fireworks, said the Beijing Fireworks Administration Office.

The wounded included four children aged between six and nine, who were burnt in the face when igniting powder extracted from firecrackers.

Fireworks are part of traditional celebrations marking the Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, which fell on Sunday this year.

Since Beijing lifted a 12-year ban during last year's Spring Festival, fireworks have made a loud return to the Chinese capital.

The sales of fireworks by two major suppliers had reached 380,000 boxes in Beijing, compared with 240,000 boxes last year, according to a municipal public security official.

"We had confiscated 560 million illegal firecrackers, but there were still a certain quantity of fireworks flowing into Beijing that exceed safety standards," said an official.

All serious injuries were caused by the powerful fireworks that should have been set off by special ignition workers rather than individual residents according to regulations, the official said.

Last year, 779 people were wounded by fireworks and admitted to hospitals in Beijing during Spring Festival celebrations, but no deaths or eyeball removal cases were reported.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2007)