A woman was killed and nine others were injured in a 4th of July fireworks explosion at a western Michigan home on Monday night, as holiday pyrotechnics continue to send people to hospitals across the country.
Just after 11pm, deputies, firefighters, and an ambulance arrived at the scene of the explosion in Park Township, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office.
Nine people with "injuries ranging from minor to critical" were taken to nearby hospitals. A 43-year-old woman who has not been named was discovered to be unresponsive.
Despite the fact that life-saving techniques had been used on her, she had already been declared dead.
Authorities reported that the explosion also caused damage to a number of nearby homes and vehicles. Images posted by local media show debris and fireworks scattered across a front lawn, as well as a broken car windscreen.
Investigations continue into what caused the incident, which is reported to be the most recent in a string of injuries brought on by fireworks.
Prior to this incident, another fireworks explosion on a homemade barge in New Jersey on Monday reportedly caused three people's injuries, one of which was serious. The incident is the subject of a criminal investigation, according to the Byram Township Police Department, as reported by CBS.
Additionally, a commercial-grade firework that went off in the face of a 58-year-old man in Illinois on Sunday left him in critical condition. A man in Indiana suffered injuries on Sunday after a firework "launched into his vehicle, exploding and causing injury."
According to data released by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in late June, the month immediately preceding the Fourth of July was when almost 75% of all fireworks-related injuries occurred in the US last year.
In 2022, 11 fireworks-related fatalities were reported; the majority of these incidents involved mortar-style weapons. The victims' ages ranged from 11 to 43. Additionally, 10,200 injuries from fireworks occurred in 2022.