SOUTH BEND, Ind.
(AP) - Authorities say a man lost his hand after lighting a fireworks shell
he found while cleaning the parking lot near South Bend’s zoo.
South Bend police
say two men picking up litter as community service for the state Department
of Correction found the shell Monday morning before the Potawatomi Zoo
opened for the day. The explosion badly injured a 25-year-old’s man and
slightly injured a 21-year-old man.
South Bend Re-entry
Center Superintendent Charles Bowen says the two men are near the end of
their sentences and that the center has had inmates doing community service
work at the zoo for 20 years.
Bowen says the
injuries were unfortunate and point to the dangers of lighting unfamiliar
fireworks.