Young man dies in firecracker accident in Lower Austria
An 18-year-old man has died after a firecracker accident amid New Year's Eve celebrations in Lower Austria, Austrian police said on Sunday.
It is thought the man may have been in the immediate vicinity of the explosive device, a so-called 'ball bomb', when it went off too early, the police said, although the exact course of the accident was still unclear.
Three other people were also injured in the explosion in a field in the Neunkirchen district of Lower Austria.
An 18-year-old was seriously hurt and air-lifted to hospital in Graz by emergency helicopter while a 17- and a 19-year-old suffered injuries and were taken to the Wiener Neustadt State Hospital by ambulance.
There were two other firecracker-related incidents in Lower Austria.
In Lichtenau, a 16-year-old boy is fighting for his life in hospital after sustaining serious injuries when a firecracker exploded and, in Kollmitzberg, a 19-year-old has lost several fingers in a firecracker explosion.
Another serious accident was reported in Langenzersdorf where two 22-year-old men were injured after handling a so-called 'compound firework', the Lower Austrian state police said.
One of the young men suffered facial injuries and had to be taken to the Donaustadt clinic by ambulance while the other's burns could be treated at the site of the accident.
Police also reported several firework-related fires, including two which completely burnt down bus shelters.
Lower Austria's emergency services (Notruf NÖ) reported 346 rescue operations – an increase of more than 30 percent compared with previous years.
In the hours from 10pm on New Year's Eve to 2am on New Year's Day, there were 155 rescue operations.
On top of call-outs for acute illness, paramedics and emergency doctors were called out 16 times because of injuries caused by fireworks and fires, 12 times due to alcohol abuse, 10 times because of falls and five times because of scuffles.
Fireworks also caused several incidents in Vienna where three people sustained injuries from exploding firecrackers on New Year's Eve.
And in Vorarlberg, one man had to have a finger amputated after a firecracker exploded in his hand in Fußach while the police are looking for an unknown person who injured a woman with a firecracker in the city of Dornbirn.
Comments
See Also
It is thought the man may have been in the immediate vicinity of the explosive device, a so-called 'ball bomb', when it went off too early, the police said, although the exact course of the accident was still unclear.
Three other people were also injured in the explosion in a field in the Neunkirchen district of Lower Austria.
An 18-year-old was seriously hurt and air-lifted to hospital in Graz by emergency helicopter while a 17- and a 19-year-old suffered injuries and were taken to the Wiener Neustadt State Hospital by ambulance.
There were two other firecracker-related incidents in Lower Austria.
In Lichtenau, a 16-year-old boy is fighting for his life in hospital after sustaining serious injuries when a firecracker exploded and, in Kollmitzberg, a 19-year-old has lost several fingers in a firecracker explosion.
Another serious accident was reported in Langenzersdorf where two 22-year-old men were injured after handling a so-called 'compound firework', the Lower Austrian state police said.
One of the young men suffered facial injuries and had to be taken to the Donaustadt clinic by ambulance while the other's burns could be treated at the site of the accident.
Police also reported several firework-related fires, including two which completely burnt down bus shelters.
Lower Austria's emergency services (Notruf NÖ) reported 346 rescue operations – an increase of more than 30 percent compared with previous years.
In the hours from 10pm on New Year's Eve to 2am on New Year's Day, there were 155 rescue operations.
On top of call-outs for acute illness, paramedics and emergency doctors were called out 16 times because of injuries caused by fireworks and fires, 12 times due to alcohol abuse, 10 times because of falls and five times because of scuffles.
Fireworks also caused several incidents in Vienna where three people sustained injuries from exploding firecrackers on New Year's Eve.
And in Vorarlberg, one man had to have a finger amputated after a firecracker exploded in his hand in Fußach while the police are looking for an unknown person who injured a woman with a firecracker in the city of Dornbirn.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.