Explosions set off by fireworks during New Year’s celebrations in Honolulu killed at least three people and critically injured more than two dozen others, the authorities in Hawaii said, likening the gruesome aftermath to a “war zone.”
Officials said on Wednesday that the blasts happened around midnight in the Salt Lake neighborhood, after a person set off an illegal device known as an aerial cake firework — which contains multiple tubes — during a New Year’s Eve party. That firework rocketed into other fireworks caches, they said, causing a series of explosions that sent fire and debris ripping through the residential area.
Footage shared on local media and by residents appeared to show the detonations, with fierce fire and flashes of light on a street lined with houses and cars.
“Make no mistake, it was a bomb that exploded,” Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii said at a news conference on Wednesday, adding that some people had been left with “the worst possible war zone injuries.” Emergency responders pronounced two women dead at the scene; a third died later on Wednesday morning.
At least 23 adults and three children sustained critical injuries, the authorities said, including severe burns and wounds. At least 10 to 15 others had minor injuries.
“It was something that not a lot of us have experienced before and never want to again,” Dr. Jim Ireland, director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, said at the news conference. Some of the victims were so were badly injured that they could not identify themselves to responders, he added.
It was “highly likely” that more of the critically injured could die, Governor Green said, because of damage to their lungs from the explosions.
Aerial fireworks are illegal without a permit in Hawaii, and state officials have vowed to crack down on unlawful sales and use.
Fireworks caused a reported eight deaths and an estimated 9,700 emergency room visits in the United States in 2023, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The federal agency has banned certain fireworks for consumer sale, including cherry bombs, aerial bombs, and M-80s. Restrictions on other fireworks vary by state.
One other person also died in Hawaii in a separate fireworks-related explosion over New Year’s Eve, Mayor Rick Blangiardi of Honolulu told reporters on Wednesday.
“New Year’s Eve should be a time of joy, not danger,” he said, “yet the growing prevalence of illegal fireworks on our island has turned it into a night of risk and devastation.”
“It’s a tragic way to start off the new year,” he said.
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