Honolulu firework blast kills three after inflicting ‘war-zone injuries’

Tougher penalties promised for illegal fireworks as more than 20 people suffer severe burns and shrapnel wounds

Emergency crews arrived at a chaotic and gruesome scene in a neighbourhood of Honolulu, Hawaii, after a large new year's firework tipped over and set off a fiery, shrapnel-studded blast that killed three people and injured more than 20 others, several of them critically.

Two women died at the scene and a third woman died in hospital, authorities said on Wednesday, as they implored people to abandon their new year's tradition of setting off fireworks across the city. Officials promised tougher penalties for illegal fireworks.