Dozens burned by fireworks before Japan tourism event in Kyoto

It was supposed to be one of the main tourism events in Kyoto, Japan. Fifty-nine people, including 19 with such critical injuries as burns over their entire bodies, were taken to a hospital Thursday evening after an explosion ripped through a summer firework festival in Kyoto Prefecture, firefighters said.

Five were deemed in an especially perilous condition, including a 10-year-old boy who was being treated in an intensive care unit, they said.

The blast occurred at a row of stalls around 7:30 p.m., just before the start of the fireworks, at the main viewing venue on the bank of the Yura River in Fukuchiyama, across from the launch site, authorities said.

On Friday morning, police and the local fire department jointly began investigating the site of the explosion.

Based on information from witnesses, police suspect that a fire started when a stall owner tried to pour gasoline into a generator and a propane gas cylinder next to it caught fire. The local chamber of commerce, which had organized the display, also said propane gas cylinders used at stalls may have exploded.

Local residents said they had heard more than one explosion.

The firefighters said flames and billowing smoke were seen and three stalls caught fire and were knocked down. The stalls had begun selling food and goods in the evening.

They were among the around 350 stalls at the annual festival, which last year drew around 110,000 spectators from Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures

The event was immediately canceled before any fireworks were lit.

“I heard a bang and then saw smoke,” said a 37-year-old member of the chamber of commerce who was serving as a volunteer around 200 meters away from the blast site.

A 28-year-old woman from Ritto, Shiga Prefecture, said, “It was a mess with blue sheets used by festival-goers scattered at the viewing site, drawing a crowd of curious people while others were leaving the venue.”

Around 6,000 fireworks were scheduled to be displayed during the 90-minute festival from 7:30 p.m., according to the event’s official website.