A total of 125 people were wounded in Beijing as citizens set off fireworks yesterday to celebrate the eve of the Spring Festival, according to the capital's fireworks administration authorities.

Three were seriously wounded, including a person whose eyeballs had to be removed by doctors, said a spokesman with the Beijing Fireworks Administration Office.

"Eight people wounded by fireworks underwent operations on Saturday," said a source with the Tongren Hospital in Beijing, which received 44 cases of eye wounds by Saturday night.

The city also reported 114 fire cases from fireworks ignition, but no casualties were reported, the spokesman said.

The ignition peak of fireworks was between 10 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday in the capital. About 480,000 security workers were mobilized Saturday to watch out for firecracker accidents.

Chinese usually ignite firecrackers during traditional Chinese festivals, especially the Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, to expect good luck for the coming year.

Beijing lifted a 12-year ban on firecrackers in 2005. With the fifth ring road as the dividing line, the whole city is divided into firecracker areas and forbidden areas. Firecrackers had been banned in the capital for environment and safety concerns.

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.

"But the city also saw a sharp inflow of substandard firecrackers, despite supervision efforts," said the spokesman, who blamed the three seriously wounded cases on ignition of substandard fireworks.

The city had confiscated 560 million substandard firecrackers, more than four times that of last year, said the spokesman.