- At least 27 people were injured when illegal fireworks seized in the southern Philippines exploded.
- Two victims were seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Zamboanga, and the mayor has ordered an investigation.
- The explosion occurred as police explosives experts were stacking fireworks in a vacant lot near an offshore firing range for a controlled explosion.
A huge trove of illegal fireworks seized in the southern Philippines exploded, damaging homes, a hotel and an international airport and injuring at least 27 people, including 19 police officers and government workers, authorities said Tuesday.
Two of the victims from Monday afternoon’s explosion remain in critical condition in a hospital in the southern port city of Zamboanga, where the mayor has ordered an investigation into why a planned destruction of the fireworks by police weapons experts resulted in a massive explosion.
Police explosives experts had piled fireworks in a vacant lot near an offshore firing range and were preparing to set off a controlled explosion when a large number of them were doused in water and suddenly exploded, an explosion so powerful it shattered windows about two miles away, officials and witnesses said.
Fireworks caught on video rolling into crowd at Stadium of Fire concert in Utah, causing injuries
The passenger terminal at Zamboanga International Airport, more than a mile from the blast, suffered minor damage but there were no reports of injuries or flight delays, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
Police and rescuers prepare to evacuate injured people after a pile of confiscated illegal fireworks exploded in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga on July 8, 2024. Authorities said Tuesday that a pile of confiscated illegal fireworks exploded in the southern Philippines, damaging homes, a hotel and an international airport and injuring at least 27 people, including 19 police officers and other government workers. (via AP, Regional Police Intelligence Unit 9)
The illegally manufactured fireworks had been taken from a warehouse in Zamboanga City where an explosion killed five people and injured several others on June 29. Authorities in Zamboanga said two controlled destruction operations of the fireworks had been carried out by Monday without incident.
Click here to get the FOX News app
Many superstitious Filipinos set off powerful firecrackers, especially on New Year’s Eve, believing the raucous celebrations, heavily influenced by Chinese traditions, will ward off bad luck and evil. Government restrictions and a tough economic situation have somehow dampened the dangerous tradition, but it still persists in many areas.
