Police blow up 10 tons of confiscated fireworks

Sappers destroy pyrotechnics discovered in drugs bust, say blast in isolated quarry comparable to 1 ton of TNT

Bomb disposal experts this week destroyed some 10 tons of fireworks and “hazardous” toys in a controlled explosion in an isolated quarry in central Israel, police said Thursday.

While the act was intended as a vital act of public safety, it also provided a spectacular show.

According to police, the unprecedented detonation took place after the items, which posed a threat to public safety, were discovered in a yard in the center of the country during a massive drugs crackdown that began in 2015.

Police officials said the sappers who examined the fireworks compared the impact of their detonation to an explosion by one ton of TNT. Such a blast, the sappers said, could cause bodily injuries and damage to property an area with a radius of hundreds of meters.

The owner of the warehouse in which the fireworks were found was being prosecuted for storing dangerous items, Channel 2 television said.

Fireworks confiscated and destroyed by police in January 2017 (courtesy of Israel Police)

After receiving court approval, in accordance with advice from police experts, the controlled explosion was scheduled to take place in the quarry, which is situated far from residential areas, the Ynet news website.

Police said that keeping such a large volume of fireworks would pose “a real danger to the public.”