Saturday 17 August 2013

Japan fireworks festival explosion injures dozens


Tokyo (CNN) -- Video posted to YouTube shows the dramatic moment a food stall exploded at a fireworks festival in Japan on Thursday evening. More than 100,000 people had gathered for the annual pyrotechnic display in Fukuchiyama city, said the local chamber of commerce and industry, which organized the event. The video shows flames leaping from the stall's awning, then screams after a second explosion less than two minutes later. People are seen lying on the ground receiving treatment, before firefighters race to the scene. Sixty people were taken to a number of hospitals, suffering from varying degrees of burns, authorities said. At one hospital alone, 16 people ages 8 to 85 years were treated for serious burns. Others were taken to more than 10 hospitals, some outside Kyoto prefecture. Police are investigating the cause of the blaze, which local media said was believed to have started when the operator of a food stall that sells "baby kasutera," a popular sponge-cake in Japan, tried to refuel his generator.