3 dead, over 20 injured in Hawaii after massive explosion at NYE neighborhood celebration

Three people are dead and about 20 injured after a fireworks incident overnight in Honolulu, officials with the city's emergency medical services told USA TODAY.

Around 1:45 a.m. local time, the Honolulu Police Department said on X there was a "fireworks-related incident with multiple causalities" in the city's Salt Lake area, a major residential zone just east of Pearl Harbor on the state's most populated island, Oʻahu.

EMS paramedic supervisor Sunny Johnson said her teams pronounced two people dead at the scene of the massive explosion early Wednesday, and transported over 20 to hospitals with injuries. A third person died later.

“We can confirm we had two fatalities on scene, and that number could change, we don’t know as far as what’s going on at hospital," Johnson, 32, told USA TODAY.

Johnson could not provide additional details about the identities of the deceased, and said more information could be released at a news conference at 2 p.m. local time.

Video captured by locals and posted to Instagram appears to show dozens of fireworks exploding in a massive, bright blaze the size of a house, with plumes of smoke rising in the air. The inferno appeared to explode on a resident's front lawn, along a dense neighborhood street dotted with parked cars.

Police and fire officials are investigating, Johnson said, and authorities are still trying to figure out what caused the fireworks to blow up.

“We don’t know the cause of the reason, but the nature of the incident is what caused the severity of the injuries and fatalities," Johnson said.

Police, fire and emergency medical staff responded to the area and provided "care and security," the police department said on X.

(This story was updated to add new information.)