The NYE Honolulu explosion that left 3 dead and multiple injured was caused by ⏤ an aerial cake?

Three people were killed and dozens injured in a fireworks-related incident on New Year’s Eve in Honolulu, HI, as explosions and violence ripped through several U.S. cities during New Year’s celebrations.

Hawaii police said the NYE Honolulu explosion was an accident caused by an illegal type of fireworks called an “aerial cake,” unlike the New Year’s Eve New Orleans truck-ramming attack, which authorities have called terror-related, and the deadly Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, for which a motive has not yet been determined.

According to The New York Times, the NYE Honolulu blast happened in the residential Salt Lake neighborhood when, in celebration, someone set off an “aerial cake,” a large and elaborate airborne fireworks banned in most cities and states without a permit. The device, sometimes called a “cake bomb,” caused other fireworks to go off in a massive explosion that authorities later compared to a “war zone.”

After the explosion, two people were declared dead at the scene, another person later died at the hospital, and 26 people, many children, one as young as 12 months old, were treated at the hospital for serious injuries. According to Hawaii Governor Josh Greene, additional fatalities were expected. As of Thursday, none of the victims had been identified.

🚨BREAKING
DEADLY FIREWORKS EXPLOSION!
A horrific fireworks explosion in the Salt Lake-Aliamanu neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii, resulted in the tragic loss of at least two lives and injuries to 22 others. The blast was started by a 14 year old boy after lighting a firework in… pic.twitter.com/iHnFcKCIX8

— John Cremeans USA (@JohnCremeansUSA) January 1, 2025

Newsweek and multiple social media reports say authorities suspected a 14-year-old boy lit a firework in his hand, causing the explosion. Later reports say the aerial cake firework tipped over and fired into crates of additional fireworks. The aerial cake was a bundle of 50 fireworks, which can be lit separately, but in this case, they were lit all at once. Officials later said additional illegal fireworks worth tens of thousands of dollars were recovered from the home.

“One of the worst calls I’ve ever been on”

At a press conference, Honolulu Emergency Services Department Director Dr. James Ireland called the aerial cake explosion the worst 911 call he’d ever been on as far as “the immense tragedy and amount of patients and severity of the injuries.”

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi added, “We are angry, frustrated, and deeply saddened at this unnecessary suffering and loss of life. This incident is a painful reminder of the danger of illegal fireworks, which put lives at risk, drain our first responder resources, and disrupt our communities. What a tragic way to start off the new year.”

The tragic NYE incident came amid a push from Hawaiian officials to crack down on illegal fireworks in the state, where 40,000 pounds of illegal fireworks were seized at Hawaiian ports last year, KHON2 reported. “Enough is enough. This situation is out of control, and it can not be allowed to continue, we will not allow it to continue,” Honolulu Mayor Blangiardi said.

The Salt Lake neighborhood blast was just one of several firework-related emergencies in Hawaii on New Year’s Eve. Among other serious injuries, one other fatality was reported in an unrelated accident, and reports say people continued to light fireworks near the explosion as emergency services responded to the call. “I hope people wake up,” Hawaii Governor Josh Green said of the state’s illegal fireworks problem. Fireworks, he added, are a “threat to public safety and health.”