Teen loses hands when fireworks explode during street racing event, Texas cops say

A firework mishap during a street racing event left two teenagers suffering severe injuries, according to San Antonio police.

The teenagers were among hundreds of street racers who were doing doughnuts or igniting fireworks around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, police said according to WOAI.

One of the teens was holding a mortar shell, which blew up his hands when another teen lit the explosive, WOAI reported. The other teenager “lost his fingers and possibly his eyesight,” KENS 5 reported.

There were at least two street racing incidents going on in the area at the time, according to KSAT. More than 50 vehicles were found at one of the locations, the outlet reported.

Several people were taken into custody after reportedly throwing “wood, rocks and fireworks” at officers, according to KSAT.

Street racing has been running rampant in San Antonio, according to media reports. Street racing likely caused an 8-car pileup in the city last week, the Express-News reported.

Two dozen people were arrested during a street racing incident in October, though half of them had their charges dismissed, KENS 5 reported.

“Our officers will continue to be proactive and respond to these incidents. We will not tolerate this behavior in our city,” the police department said at the time.

This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 6:35 AM with the headline "Teen loses hands when fireworks explode during street racing event, Texas cops say."