Et al means and others or it can mean and elsewhere. When used in citing a reference it often means there are multiple authors of the work cited and the citation is for the first author and the others. John Smith, et al would mean John Smith and his coauthors.
1 NEW YORK: The 39th annual Macy's Firework Show over the East River will last for 25 minutes and draw a crowd of over 3 million spectators. As the biggest firework display in the US, this year's show features more than 50,000 effects. 2  WASHINGTON, DC: Lasting over 17 minutes, this show is among the largest in the US.
but fails to halt New Year firework celebrations just 500 yards away. 1  The Address Downtown is currently on fire in the Middle Eastern city, with the flames running up at least 40 storeys. 2  Hotel just across a lake from the Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building, which hosted a fireworks display at midnight.