The display started innocently enough. Fireworks crackled in
the California sky. People gathered, transfixed by momentary comets of red and
white.
And then ...
Crash.
A fireball illuminated the sky, sending attendees scurrying
- and more than two dozen victims to area hospitals, injuries caused by a major
malfunction.
"Oh my God!" attendees yelled. "Run! Run!
Run!"
Thursday's malfunction - caused when a wooden platform
holding live fireworks tipped over - sent at least 28 people to the hospital,
with four listed in serious condition.
"For some unknown reasons the structure that holds
these ordinances collapsed and caused them to be firing into the crowd,"
said Simi Valley police Cmdr. Stephanie Shannon.
Nothing this jarring had previously happened at the
Fireworks Extravaganza, a yearly event in Simi Valley, a city located about 40
miles northwest of Los Angeles.
This year's finale emerged too soon, too close, too big, too
loud.
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