2 men suffer hand injuries from fireworks on West, Northwest sides

Two men were critically injured when fireworks went off in their hands late Tuesday and early Wednesday in two separate incidents on the West and Northwest sides.

A man in his 40s was holding a firework when it detonated about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday in the 4600 block of West Belmont, according to the Chicago Fire Department. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.

A man in his 30s suffered a “severe hand injury” about 11 p.m. Tuesday when a firework exploded in his hand in the 4300 block of West Cortez in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood, fire officials said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, also in critical condition.

Earlier Tuesday night, a 42-year-old man was killed when he was struck in the face by a firework in the Southwest Side Gage Park neighborhood.