LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police responded Wednesday night to a major explosion in South Los Angeles where they had confiscated more than 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks earlier in the day. At least 9 people were injured and some buildings were damaged.
The blast damaged cars in a residential neighborhood and left debris on the streets, footage on social media showed. A truck that was apparently being used to collect the fireworks was also severely damaged, video shows.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson William Cooper said he could not immediately provide more information about what led to the explosion and that authorities were evacuating the area.
About noon, the department received an anonymous call about the fireworks on the 700 block of East 27th Street, Officer Tony Im said.
Officers found several thousand pounds of fireworks and other improvised explosive devices, Im said. 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.
KTTV-TV Channel 11 reported that a bomb squad truck carrying the devices had exploded unexpectedly.
