39 hurt as fireworks hit revellers

Dozens of people were injured when a wood platform holding live fireworks tipped over, sending the pyrotechnics into a crowd at an Independence Day show outside Los Angeles.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 revellers were taking their seats for the fireworks extravaganza at a park in Simi Valley when the spectacle of lights that were supposed to be launched in the sky never took off.