Unexploded firework lodges in man's chest

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ANOKA, Minn., May 30 (UPI) -- A Minnesota man shooting off illegal fireworks was hospitalized in critical condition after an unexploded device backfired and penetrated his chest, police say.

Nick Beheng, 31, of Linwood Township was allegedly lighting fireworks Saturday evening when one, in a tube, backfired and struck him, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, reported Wednesday.

"He put two devices in a tube and then held it above his chest. The tube was pointed directly at his chest," said Commander Paul Sommer, a spokesman for the Anoka County Sheriff's Office. "I can't think of a case where someone was impacted by an unexploded device that penetrated that deeply into the chest cavity."

Doctors at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where Beheng was taken with a massive chest wound and a torn heart, found the device embedded in his chest, Sommer said.

A St. Paul police bomb expert entered the operating room and advised surgeons it was safe to remove the device. Police then removed the unexploded firework from the hospital, a police spokesman said.

Beheng remained in the hospital in critical condition, the television station reported.