A man barely dodged serious burns when an unused firework set to be turned into scrap exploded in his face as he struck it with a hammer.

The incident was captured on surveillance footage at a scrapyard in Luzhou, in Sichuan, China, on Sunday, February 11.

The worker, not named in Chinese media, was disposing of countless fireworks used up by locals during the Chinese New Year celebrations.

However, while using a hammer to handle the remains of one piece of pyrotechnic that he did not realise still contained some of the explosive residues, the fireworks suddenly exploded upon being struck.

The unexpected blast sent flames rising in the air, forcing the worker to drop his tools and run away to save himself.

For a brief moment, he disappeared from view as the scene was engulfed by smoke. Flares and sparks were also seen flying everywhere, followed by the sound of items around the scrapyard breaking.

Miraculously, the man somehow emerged unharmed a few seconds later.

He later told local media: 'It was too dangerous, so we switched to using a chisel and poked it instead.'