On New Year’s Eve, accidents involving fireworks occurred again. According to police reports, four people in Carinthia had to be taken to hospital. There have been two major fires caused by fireworks in the state of Tyrol.
On Sunday evening in Nikelsdorf (Carinthia), a 55-year-old was seriously injured in the hand when a rocket hit him. In Umberg a 33-year-old was hit in the face. A 49-year-old in Rennweg and a 29-year-old in Althofen suffered hand injuries.
The first accident took place in the 55-year-old’s garden at 6 p.m. An F2 category rocket hit the mobile phone in the hand of the man who had approached the already ignited fireworks after an apparent misfire, the Carinthia State Police Directorate reported. When he tried to ignite the rocket again, it fired and hit him at close range. After first aid, he was taken to the Villach LKH by the rescue team.
Fatal fireworks batteries
In Umberg, two Viennese men aged 33 and 36 set off a battery of fireworks equipped with two fuses at midnight. The 33-year-old stayed too close to the battery for an unknown reason and was injured in the face when it fired. After initial care from an emergency doctor, the ambulance took him to the Klagenfurt clinic.
The 49-year-old also set off a battery of fireworks in Rennweg at midnight. The German said he stayed with the battery because he thought the ignition was not working. The battery discharged properly, injuring one hand. He was taken by ambulance to Spittal an der Drau hospital with apparently minor injuries.
In the accident in Althofen, the pyrotechnic object exploded in the hand of a 29-year-old, who was injured to an unspecified extent. After receiving first aid, the rescue team took her to the hospital in Friesach. The investigation into the cause of the accident has not yet been completed, police said.
Damage to property in Carinthia
In addition to injuries, there was also property damage in the southern state due to fireworks. In the municipality of St. Andrä (Wolfsberg district), unknown perpetrators ignited a pyrotechnic object in a mailbox, which was damaged. In Spittal an der Drau, a waste island burned down in the evening because spent battery fireworks were disposed of too early. At least three batteries were found in a plastic garbage bin, the Carinthian State Police Directorate reported. After the fire brigade was alerted around 10 p.m. by a man who saw smoke developing, the fire brigade was able to quickly extinguish the fire.
Two fires in Tyrol
The waste room of a guest house in Maurach (Tyrol) caught fire on Monday evening due to improper disposal of pyrotechnic goods. As the Tyrolean State Police announced, two German holidaymakers had thrown away several New Year’s Eve rockets and two fireworks batteries around 12:30 p.m., thinking they had gone out. On Sunday evening, a thuja hedge in Hopfgarten (Kitzbühel district) caught fire by a New Year’s Eve rocket.
One of the German holiday guests noticed the fire in Maurach around 1:30 am when he noticed the smell of fire, smoke and crackling sounds through his tilted window. He and the homeowner started extinguishing the fire with fire extinguishers. The alerted fire brigade was able to completely extinguish the fire. There were 25 firefighters present.
Rocket sets Thujenhecke on fire
The hedge fire in Hopfgarten broke out around 7:30 p.m., probably by a rocket fired from an adjacent ski pasture. The fire was extinguished by the fire brigade. There was significant property damage and no injuries.
In Zirl (Innsbruck-Land district), a New Year’s Eve rocket hit the bedroom window of a single-family home around 11:40 p.m. The outer pane of the double glazing broke. Soot residue remained on the inner window. A 40-year-old woman who was in the bedroom at the time of the impact went into shock.
Police have also charged two men with possessing and discharging banned fireworks ‘believed to have been imported from the East’. The 18-year-old and 27-year-old lit the fireworks in Völs (Innsbruck-Land district) around 6:20 p.m. Any fireworks that had not yet been lit were confiscated. It was said the 18-year-old had already been reported on Christmas Day for possessing hundreds of banned fireworks.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
