LOS ANGELES — At least nine people were injured Wednesday evening as the Los Angeles Police Department seized thousands of pounds of illegal fireworks, officials said.
Some of the fireworks were in the process of being detonated when the blast occurred around 6 p.m. in a residential area, multiple officials familiar with the incident told NBC News.
The LAPD tweeted that bomb squad officers were seizing more than 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks at the time of the blast.
“Some of the fireworks were being stored in our Bomb Squad trailer as a precautionary measure,” the LAPD tweeted. “Unknown at this time what caused an explosion.”
The blast damaged nearby businesses, structures and cars, officials said.
News helicopter footage showed what appeared to a bomb squad disposal unit with heavy damage in the Historic South-Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, south of downtown. The windows of a laundromat were shattered.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said several structures sustained varying levels of damage. Search and rescue members were evaluating the structural integrity of the most heavily damaged building.
In March, a massive fireworks explosion at a house in Ontario, a city about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, killed two people. Officials said at the time that the blast caused at least $3.2 million in damage.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Phil Helsel contributed.