Nearly 30 people were injured, six of them seriously, in an explosion in the Philippines on Monday. The explosion occurred when a party of confiscated illegal fireworks exploded by mistake.
Most of the injured are experts on explosives, according to the police. The powerful blast also damaged houses, hotels, and an airport several kilometers away in the city of Zamboanga on the island of Mindanao.
The accident occurred when a team consisting of police, coastguards, and firefighters were about to dispose of fireworks retrieved from a storage facility. In the facility, an explosion had occurred at the end of June, killing five people and injuring nearly 40.
The fireworks were the third and final party to be taken from the storage facility to a shooting range for a controlled explosion when the large pile, which had been drenched with water, suddenly exploded. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows as far as three kilometers away.
