The 3-year-old boy who died on Monday was the fourth person to succumb to his injuries Huge fireworks explosion on New Year's Eve at a home in Honolulu, and a doctor said six other people faced a long recovery in Arizona, where they were sent to be treated for severe burns.
Three women also died in the blast and more than 20 people were injured, many of whom suffered burns over most of their bodies. Two of those killed were declared dead at the scene.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner identified the child as Cassius Ramos-Benigno. The cause and manner of death were listed as pending.
The child's death comes days after Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said at a press conference after the New Year's Day explosion, “I think there are likely one or two children under the age of 10 who will either be permanently disfigured or will die in the coming hours.” Will die.”
The US military on Saturday sent six injured people to Phoenix for treatment because Hawaii's only burn center did not have enough capacity to care for all the victims.
After the disaster, Hawaii's leaders stepped up their repeated calls to crack down on the state's vast illegal fireworks trade with tougher enforcement and greater penalties.
Green said officers seized 187,000 pounds of illegal fireworks in 2023 and more than 40,000 pounds this year.
Marco Garcia/AP
The six people flown to Arizona are in their 20s and 30s with severe burns, Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Arizona Burn Center, said in a news conference streamed online.
The lowest person has more than 45% of his body burnt, while the highest person has almost 80% of his body burnt. Each of the six is using a breathing tube and most are in a medically induced coma.
Foster said they are all doing “very well” and have good vital signs. But it will take six months to a year for anyone to return to anything resembling a normal life, Foster said. He said four patients may have to be intubated and remain in a coma for several months.
Patients will likely suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, Foster said, adding that the burn center has two full-time psychologists and a psychiatrist on hospital staff to help them.
“There is something unique and particularly frightening about burns, especially this type of injury,” Foster said. “And our guess is that all of these patients will have some adjustment problems.”
Several people required emergency surgery before leaving Hawaii, he said, and many suffered traumatic injuries in addition to burns due to the explosions and resulting projectiles.
The Arizona Burn Center operated on all six on Sunday, had three more surgeries on Monday and planned three more on Tuesday. By then, Foster said, doctors should have completed removing the burn wounds and made progress in closing the wounds and grafting the skin. Infection is the most dangerous and frightening complication for burn patients, he said, predicting that everyone may develop the infection at some point.
“This is exactly the way burn wounds work, especially when a large percentage of your body's total surface area is burned this way,” Foster said.
Scars and the physical limitations that come with them will likely be the biggest thing patients have to deal with, he said, and these scars will become life-long injuries.
The burn center and the hospital it is part of, a foundation affiliated with Valleywise Health, are providing housing for patients' relatives. Some burn center employees have even voluntarily donated their homes, Foster said.
Hawaii's diverse population has long celebrated the New Year with fireworks, but in recent years, professional-grade aerial explosives have been growing in popularity, even though they are illegal for hobbyists. Areas around Oahu are illuminated for hours as residents launch aerial fireworks into the sky from the narrow streets in front of their homes.
Honolulu officials say a man attending a party lit a bundle of aerial fireworks, which fell on his side and detonated the explosives in two boxes that contained additional aerial fireworks. Video of the resulting explosion shows a rapid series of explosions with fireworks in the air and in front of a house.
Hawaii's counties have different regulations on other types of fireworks. On Oahu, the state's most populous island, only certain types of fireworks are allowed to be used during specific timeframes on New Year's Eve, Chinese New Year and the Fourth of July. However, many residents enjoy fireworks of all types throughout the year.