Four Injured by Firework at Utah Summer Games
Jun 15, 2019, 9:51 PM | Updated: 11:05 pm
CEDAR CITY, Utah – Four people were injured when a firework shot into spectators at the opening ceremonies of the Larry H. Miller Utah Summer Games Friday night.
The incident happened around 10:30 PM. Tim Strand said he and his wife Charise have gone to the event for years. They were watching the fireworks show from outside Eccles Coliseum when one of the fireworks came their direction.
“The firework pretty much hit my wife in the chest, abdomen area, and bounced off her and then exploded on the ground about two feet from us,” Strand said.
Charise Strand was shooting video when the firework shot toward them. The video captured their reaction to the impact and the activity immediately after as people tried to figure out what happened.
“I had to have a couple of stitches in the ear from where it hit and the back of the head and had some burns and stuff on my back where it went through my shirt and on my leg,” Tim Strand said. “My wife had pretty significant injury to the abdomen because it just, I think the whole thing hit her before it exploded, so it was quite a mass, I think that hit her. She was hurting pretty bad.”
Event spokesperson Nikki Koontz said four people reported having injuries. Three of them went to the hospital to be checked out. They are trying to figure out what caused the firework to shoot toward people.
“The safety of our athletes and the spectators are our highest priority. We have strict safety protocols in place and the situation is under investigation,” Koontz said.
