16 hurt in explosion after seizure of illegal fireworks in LA

LOS ANGELES — At least 16 people were injured when police attempted to safely detonate illegal fireworks seized in Los Angeles, authorities said.

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Buildings and cars were damaged, and several members of the Los Angeles Police Department were injured as a bomb squad was in the process of seizing more than 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Nine LAPD officers and one Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent suffered minor injuries, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Three residents suffered serious injuries, and three others suffered minor injuries, according to KNBC.

The Los Angeles Police Department said on Twitter that at the time of the explosion, its bomb squad officers had been handling thousands of pounds of fireworks in the area of 27th Street and San Pedro Street.

Police were attempting to dispose of some of the fireworks, which were discovered earlier Wednesday, KNBC reported. When police detonated the fireworks in an armored container, the force of the explosion destroyed the container and caused damage to several parked cars, the television station reported.

Capt. Stacy Spell, an LAPD spokesperson, told reporters that the department’s priorities were “evacuation and rendering the area safe.”

>> 2 dead after fireworks ignite explosion at California house

Police had been tipped off to the illegal fireworks at a South Los Angeles home at about noon, KTLA reported. Some of the fireworks were homemade and others were made in China, the television station reported.

Officers found several thousand pounds of fireworks and other improvised explosive devices, LAPD spokesperson Tony Im told the Times. The fireworks were to be put in storage, and officials had planned to explode the improvised devices at the scene because they were too unstable to move, the newspaper reported.

Arturo Cejas III, 24, was arrested on suspicion of reckless or malicious possession of a destructive device, Im told the Times. He is being held on $500,000 bail, the newspaper reported.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted that he was monitoring the situation closely and had directed the LAPD to conduct a full investigation “so we can better understand why this happened.”

“Illegal fireworks pose a great danger and can cost lives,” Garcetti tweeted. “We will prosecute those who use or possess them to the fullest extent of the law.”

In March, two people were killed after an explosion set off by fireworks rocked a house in Ontario, California.

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