Photo: Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
A police attempt to seize several thousand pounds of illegal fireworks led to an explosion in a South Los Angeles neighborhood Wednesday night.
After receiving an anonymous tip from a neighbor about the massive stockpile, Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived at a South L.A. home to remove the explosives, which included an estimated 5,000 pounds of fireworks and several hundred “improvised explosives.”
During apress conferenceWednesday, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said that the armored truck experienced a “total catastrophic failure.” It was built to contain more than what had exploded inside.
Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
“Clearly, protocols were followed and pursued. But something happened in that containment vessel that should not have happened and we don’t know why,” he said of the incident.
A technical investigation is underway to determine the cause of the truck’s containment failure.
According to police, Cejas acquired the explosive material out of state and transported it to California with the purpose of reselling it to neighbors over the July 4 weekend.
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“That large amount poses an imminent and real danger to the community,” Moore said.
Fireworks are illegal in Los Angeles. Moore reminded residents Wednesday of the “dangers of this type of material.”
“Most people see them as harmless…as celebratory and fun,” he said. “Tonight is a clear demonstration of the clear and present danger that fireworks in this city pose when you have underground operators and sellers that gather this material [and] store it in an unsafe and dangerous fashion, exposing entire neighborhoods to the real risks of a loss of life.”
source: people.com
