Man loses hand after picking up exploding homemade firework

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — New Year’s Eve celebration turned to tragedy when a man lost his hand after picking up a homemade explosive thrown toward him in Longview, Washington. Longview Capt. John Reeves said Corey Bartlette threw a tennis ball filled with explosives around midnight Sunday in the direction of a 49-year-old transient man. Reeves said the man picked up the ball and “his hand was blown off.” Bartlette was booked on an assault charge. Bartlette’s father called the device a homemade firework used during a New Year’s Eve celebration. He said the ball bounced toward the victim, and was not intended to hit a person.