Seven people were killed in a fire caused by an exploding firecracker in the northern Philippines on Friday, police said, as the country's noisy and often dangerous New Year's Eve celebrations got under way. About 100 stalls were razed by the blaze, which witnesses said started when a customer tried a firecracker and set off a series of explosions in a market packed with firework shops in Bocaue town in Bulacan province, north of Manila,

Bocaue resident Yolanda de Jesus said her 13-year-old nephew and his friend, who both worked in firecracker stalls, had been trapped and killed by the fire as they slept nearby.

"My nephew was sleeping together with his friend because they were so tired," she said.

Filipinos across the nation traditionally see in the New Year with a barrage of noise and light from cheap fireworks. At least 18 people died in last year's celebrations and hundreds were wounded by firecracker mishaps and stray bullets.

Copyright Reuters, 2005