DOVER — Authorities say two people killed near Dover earlier this month died after fireworks exploded and caught a building on fire.
Pope County Coroner Leonard Krout identified the victims as 49-year-old Vickie Branch and 33-year-old Jason Holderer. Krout told The Courier that the pair was identified through DNA tests and fingerprints.
Branch and Holderer died July 6 in a fire north of Dover.
Krout says the pair was handling large firecracker mortars at the time of the accident. He says the fireworks may have been left in the building by a previous owner and that they should have been disposed of properly.
The deaths are under investigation by Arkansas State Police and the Pope County sheriff's office.