Five people died in Germany on New Year’s Eve after setting off powerful fireworks.
Police and medical professionals have repeatedly called for a ban or restriction on fireworks.
The majority of accidents are attributed to the use of illegal, homemade or poorly handled pyrotechnic devices.
A real scourge. Five people died accidentally on New Year’s Eve in several regions of Germany while lighting powerful fireworks. If the Germans traditionally celebrate the New Year with a particularly intense use of fireworks, these tragedies are relaunching the debate on the ban on the most powerful pyrotechnic devices, due to a high number of deaths and injuries each year.
On New Year’s Eve, a 24-year-old man died near Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, when he detonated a pyrotechnic rocket which, according to local police, was made by the victim. In Oschatz in Saxony (East), a 45-year-old man also died from serious head injuries when he set fire to a “pyrotechnic bomb”. According to the police, it was a powerful category F4 fireworks, the acquisition of which requires special authorization.
“Inappropriate” handling
In the same region of Saxony, a 50-year-old man died in the town of Hartha while trying to detonate a pyrotechnic bomb in a pipe. The victim also suffered serious head injuries and died at the scene. Near Hamburg, in the north, a 20-year-old young man also died while lighting a pyrotechnic device.
Finally, in Kremen in the Brandenburg region, which surrounds Berlin, a fifth man died during “the ignition of pyrotechnic devices” with a “inappropriate handling”a local police spokesperson told AFP. In this region, three other men were seriously injured in similar circumstances.
These extremely dangerous DIY jobs have nothing to do with legal and controlled New Year’s fireworks
Ingo Schubert
To prevent these tragedies, police and health professionals have repeatedly called for a ban on private fireworks or restrictions, recalls Deutsche Welle (new window). According to the German Pyrotechnics Association, the deaths and serious injuries are due to the illegal use of homemade fireworks. “This extremely dangerous DIY work has nothing to do with legal and controlled New Year’s Eve fireworks”said board member Ingo Schubert.
If the president of Gewerkschaft der Polizei (GdP), the German police union, declared himself in favor of a ban, he deplores the absence of political will on this subject. “We need more injured people and more emergency rooms that say, ‘We’re overloaded.’”Jochen Kopelke told German television channel ARD on Tuesday.
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As for the spokesperson for the Berlin police union, he believes that centrally organized fireworks could be a safer alternative to private events. “Fireworks should stay in the hands of people who know what they are doing, that is, firefighters and certified people. If people don’t want to do without fireworks altogether, we should offer them more organized events”explained Benjamin Jendro.
“No one wants to deprive people of the opportunity to celebrate the New Year in style”adds the president of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt. “But you don’t need gunpowder to have a happy New Year. It’s time to establish new New Year’s Eve traditions to start the new year peacefully and safely.”
