Man with hands mangled by fireworks unlikely to work, family says

Authorities in San Jose are investigating the type of illegal fireworks involved in the case of a San Jose construction worker whose hand was blown off when the explosives ignited early.

The man lost his right hand along with several fingers on his left hand, officials said. Family members say he is unlikely be able to go back to work because of his injury.

Family members told local media that the explosive was a “professional-grade device.” Officer Albert Morales of the San Jose Police Department didn’t have details about the explosive but told the San Jose Mercury News it “would have had to have been something pretty powerful.”

Alazar Ortiz, 40, was hosting a display in his mother’s driveway around 10 p.m. Friday when an ordnance exploded in his hands, mangling both, family members told NBC Bay Area.

Doctors amputated his right hand but were able to save two fingers on his left.

“For $50 he blows his two hands,’’ a tearful family member told an NBC reporter.

The man’s family is urging San Jose police to investigate the city market where Ortiz purchased the fireworks.

Two days before the holiday the San Jose Police Department sent an advisory informing the public where professionally staged fireworks could be viewed. Police also reminded residents that buying, selling, possessing or using fireworks is illegal in San Jose, as it is in many California cities, including Los Angeles.