Moment July 4 fireworks misfire into crowd and injure multiple spectators
A Fourth of July fireworks show went awfully awry, with firecrackers shooting into a crowd at a stadium and injuring several spectators.
One set of fireworks for the Stadium of Fire event at Brigham Young University’s LaVell Edwards Stadium malfunctioned on Thursday and went straight into the crowd on Thursday, according to the Provo Police Department.
A video recorded from the top of the stadium in Provo, Utah and shared on social media shows a firework display above the stadium that looks to be happening just before sunset.
Simultaneously, some of the fireworks launched from the top of one end of the stands rain down on people on the field.
Multiple people were hurt and some were rushed to hospitals.
‘The number I was given was six. Six people went to the hospital, but I don’t know how serious their injuries were,’ Freedom Festival spokesman Emory Cook told KSLTV.com.
One man was reportedly struck by a firework on his neck.
‘He slumped over after he got hit,’ a witness, Derek Blodgett, 19, told ABC4.
‘We thought that he died on the spot just because of how he acted. That’s when we all started freaking out and called for paramedics.’
The man was bleeding from the neck and had regained consciousness and was able to walk when paramedics arrived. People around him were splattered in blood, according to Blodgett.
A small fire ignited in the stands where the fireworks were being set off and was put out.
The show was then delayed for 10 to 15 minutes as first responders tended to the injured. It resumed shortly before 9pm.
After the incident, some people left the show and others took off when the main fireworks display started after the Jonas Brothers performed.
‘Our thoughts are with those who are impacted by the incident and we are following up with them to make sure they are OK,’ stated Cook.
The fireworks malfunction is being investigated by Provo fire officials and anyone with video clips is asked to send them to the fire marshal.
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