WATCH: Police decide to dispose of confiscated fireworks by setting them on fire, 17 buildings damaged in explosion

As you may be aware from their annual steamrolling of confiscated alcohol before Ramadan, the Indonesian Police often like to make a big show out of the disposal of confiscated illegal goods. But the police in Central Java’s Kebumen regency seem to have made a bit of a miscalculation when they decided to get rid of 287 kg of illegal fireworks… by lighting them on fire.

The explosion took place near Kebumen’s Gemeksekti Village on Monday afternoon. At the beginning of the 14-seconds video, the onlookers seem impressed by the large plumes of white smoke coming off of the burning contraband and let out a woo when the color suddenly flares orange, moments before an enormous explosion shakes the camera and causes screams of terror as the onlookers scatter.

The massive explosion caused the windows of about 17 buildings in the village, mostly homes but one mosque as well, to either crack or shatter. There was also damage to some walls and ceilings.

The explosion was said to be quite extremely loud and could be heard several kilometers away. Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries caused by the incident, although one woman was taken to the hospital due to shock.

After the above video of the explosion started going viral online, it was confirmed that it was, in fact, caused by the police’s disposal of illegal fireworks.

Kebumen Police Chief Titi Hastuti said his officers had been disposing of 287 kg of illegal fireworks that had been confiscated by 24 people throughout Ramadan thus far.

Police Sergeant Krida Risanto said that firework disposal was actually done in accordance with their procedures using explosive-proof ‘bomb baskets’ and that they had no idea the explosion would be large enough to cause damage to buildings.

“All damages will be fixed by [the police],” Krida promised after meeting with residents, as quoted by Suara Merdeka.

This is not the first time that a police evidence disposal display has backfired in Indonesia. In 2015, West Jakarta Police burned 3.3 tons of marijuana in a large field, leading several witnesses to complain that they felt “dizzy” due to the strong smoke and had the sudden urge to eat several bowls of Indomie (ok, we made that last bit up).

(Huge thanks to reader Lika Aprilia for sending us the tip!)