A man has been killed after he placed a fireworks mortar tube on his head and set it off, authorities have revealed.

Devon Staples had been drinking with his friends to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday on Saturday at a house in Calais, Maine.

The 22-year-old then placed a reloadable fireworks mortar tube on his head before setting it off.

Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said: "Apparently, he thought it was a great idea.

"His friends thought [they had] dissuaded him from doing it, and the next thing they knew, he ignited the fireworks and he was killed instantly."

Cody Staples, Devon's brother, was just feet away from him when the firework exploded.

He told the New York Daily News: "It was a freak accident... but Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid.

"He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh."

Mr Staples' death is the first fireworks fatality in Maine since the state legalised fireworks in 2012.