#fireworks explosion

ALOR SETAR, Oct 21 — Police have arrested two men linked to a fireworks explosion during a Deepavali celebration in Kulim that injured 22 people. Kulim District Police chief Supt Zulkifli Azizan said the suspects, aged 23 and 34, were detained after a viral video showed the blast. Deepavali Fireworks Investigations revealed the first suspect, who was intoxicated, inserted the firework upside…

MEXICO CITY — Twenty-four individuals, including a child, were killed and no less than 49 others were injured Thursday when two blasts tore through fireworks workshops in a town just north of Mexico City.

The dead included four firefighters and two cops who rushed to the scene after the main blast, just to be by killed by the second blast.

In an initial statement said by the government of the State of Mexico, there were eight people from the town of Tultepec were killed, along with the six emergency personnel and two other people who hadn't yet been recognized. The state government later raised the loss of life to 24.

First responders were also among the injured said by the government. Helicopters took the injured to several hospitals, and more than 300 police were sent to the scene.

Many residents make a living by creating and selling homemade fireworks and explosions are a regular occurrence. In June, seven people were killed and eight others were injured in a blast in Tultepec.

In December 2016, in an open-air fireworks market crowded with holiday shoppers a massive fire broke out killing several dozens of people.

In other places in Mexico deadly fireworks explosions have also occurred. In 2002, a blast at a market in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz killed 29 people; in 1999, 63 people died when an explosion of illegally stored fireworks destroyed part of the city of Celaya; in 1988, a fireworks blast in Mexico City's La Merced market killed at least 68 people; and in 2013, a rocket struck a truck loaded with fireworks for a religious procession in Tlaxcala state, killing 17 people.

Security measures at firecrackers workshops and markets have been a matter of constant debate in Mexico. While regulations exist on the books, many continue making powerful firecrackers and bottle rockets and selling them to the public.

Please don’t explode by me. Photo source.

It was the Fourth of July, so naturally 16 year old Chester Bulwicki was more than happy to start exploding things.  He was in the backyard of his house on Bryn Mawr avenue with his 13 year old brother Marion, his mother standing by and watching. The boys whooped as they lit off explosive after explosive, throwing them into the air and shooting them over the yard.  

They weren’t able to buy the fireworks in the city, of course - they’d been banned.  Fortunately though, Marion had bought them a few blocks away in what was technically Norwood, outside of the city.  It was easy enough for them to then bring them home.  

As they played in the yard, Chester lit a firework and threw it in the air.  It went up, but the wind suddenly changed direction, and the firework flew back down towards him, hitting his throat. That was the moment it exploded.  Sparks fizzled out as blood spurted from from Chester’s throat. He fell to the ground, unable to breath, his windpipe decimated.  Despite the best efforts of both the fire department and a hospital, Chester died two hours later.

By Christopher Sherman and Peter Orsi, AP, December 21, 2016

TULTEPEC, Mexico--The San Pablito fireworks market was especially well stocked for the holidays and bustling with hundreds of shoppers when a powerful chain-reaction explosion ripped through its stalls, killing at least 29 people and leaving dozens more badly burned.

The third such blast to ravage the market on the northern outskirts of Mexico’s capital since 2005 sent up a towering plume of smoke that was lit up by a staccato of bangs and flashes of light. Once the smoke cleared, the open-air bazaar was reduced to a stark expanse of ash, rubble and the charred metal of fireworks stands, casting a pall over the country’s Christmas season.

Mexico State health officials said 72 people were being treated for injuries from Tuesday’s explosion, including for severe burns, in some cases over 90 percent of their bodies. Ten children were among the hospitalized. Authorities have not yet said what may have caused the explosions which took place in Mexico State, which rings the capital.

Cesar Ornelas of Atizapan de Zaragoza was only 10 minutes into shopping with his son and his father when he heard the first explosions. He tried to run, but something knocked him to the ground from behind. He tried several times to get up, unsuccessfully, and ultimately his 15-year-old son Francisco had to drag him out.

“We didn’t look back,” said Ornelas, who suffered light burns and a large bruise over his left kidney. His white tank top had a fist-size burn on the chest. “We heard how the explosion was kind of going off bit by bit.”

A similar fire engulfed the San Pablito Market in 2005, touching off a chain of explosions that leveled hundreds of stalls just ahead of Mexico’s Independence Day. A year later a similar incident at the same market also destroyed hundreds of stands.

Portuguez, the Tultepec mayor, said the manufacture and sale of fireworks is a key part of the local economy. He added that it is regulated by law and under the “constant supervision” of the Defense Department, which oversees firearms and explosives.

“This is part of the activity of our town. It is what gives us identity,” Portuguez said. “We know it is high-risk, we regret this greatly, but unfortunately many people’s livelihoods depend on this activity.”