Two people were arrested Friday in connection with a massive New Year’s fireworks explosion in Honolulu, Hawaii, that killed at least three people and injured two dozen more.
The Honolulu Police Department identified the suspects as a man and a woman. They were charged with endangering the welfare of a minor, reckless endangerment and “multiple fireworks offenses,” police said on Facebook.
More arrests are expected, police said. No additional details were provided.
According to police, the explosion happened at a house 3 miles west of Fort Shafter during New Year’s Eve celebrations after someone lit an “aerial cake” — a combination of multiple aerial firework cartridges that resemble a sheet cake. The “cake” then fell to the side and rocketed into crates of additional pyrotechnics, which erupted outward.
Videos posted to social media by neighbors showed a series of quick bursts going off around the house.
Two women were pronounced dead at the scene and a third woman died at a hospital. The victims have not been identified.
Twenty-six others were taken to hospitals, some with serious burn injuries. There may have been additional injured victims who left before emergency services arrived on the scene, according to Sunny Johnson, paramedic supervisor for Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, who spoke at a news conference following the incident.
In Hawaii, aerial fireworks require a pyrotechnic permit, but very few attempts to prosecute violators result in guilty verdicts.
