HONOLULU --
A bomb disposal company lost five of its employees in a explosion while working to destroy seized fireworks stored in a old military bunker Friday.
Fire officials said six workers from Donaldson Enterprises, an unexploded ordnance company, were at the Kipapa gulch bunker when the explosion took place.
Saturday Honolulu police and firefighters secured the scene and began removing the two remaining bodies from the wreckage.
Special Services Division from HPD was called in to assist.
Friends and family at the scene Friday and Saturday have identified four of the victims as 29-year-old Justin Kelii, 50-year-old Robert Leahey, 24-year-old Kevin Freeman and 24-year-old Neil Sprankle. Sprankles and Freeman were both graduates of Radford High School
A fifth person, identified as 25- year-old Bryan Cabalce Wahiawa man was critically injured and was rushed to Straubs burn center, but he died about 6 p.m. Friday.
A sixth worker who suffered only minor injuries refused treatment.
The grandfather of Kelii referred to his grandson as a hardworking explosives technician and said the family worried about his safety.
He didnt tell us much, but of course, we were concerned. My wife was really concerned every day, said George Kelii.
Relatives said Kelii primarily worked on unexploded ordinance. The company recently acquired a contract to dispose of seized fireworks.
He did this as a special job for them. They needed to get rid of the fireworks, so it was a special favor Justin did for them, as a family friend, said his aunt Deborah Delatre.
Delatre said Kelii and the Donaldson family lived on the same street growing up and were very close.
Other family and friends of the victims gathered at the Waikele entrance to the storage facility Friday evening wanting to find out more. Fire officials helped to console them and tried to explain that the area was off limits because the fireworks were still unstable.
They are decomposing with the heat and periodically still detonating.It is an unsafe situation because of the instability of the materials. The heat is causing it to decompose, and poses a danger to the responders going into the bunker, so we will have to wait until it cools down, said Honolulu Fire Captain Terry Seelig.
Earlier in the day, the Honolulu bomb squad used a robotic device to search the bunker for the bodies of two men who were inside during the explosion. The device can be equipped with video cameras and temperature gauges.
If all goes well, fire officials said the robot will be sent inside the bunker at 10 a.m. Saturday to continue searching.
Donaldson Enterprises recently moved its offices to Waipahu from a previous location in Mapunapuna. The family-run company has been around for 23 years.
It was started by the late Byron Gunney Donaldson, a former police officer and marine.
The Donaldson family issued this statement late Friday: We at Donaldson Enterprises are deeply saddened by this recent tragedy and would like to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to all their family and friends at this time. These individuals were each exceptional men and will be missed greatly.
Underground Explosion Leaves 5 People DeadCopyright 2011 by KITV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
